


The Adventures of Sundancer

by LadyLucaaaaaaaa



Category: The Transformers (Cartoon Generation One)
Genre: F/M, Original Character-centric, Set during the movie, Slow Burn Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-10
Updated: 2020-07-17
Packaged: 2021-03-04 19:35:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 14
Words: 66,804
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25181854
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LadyLucaaaaaaaa/pseuds/LadyLucaaaaaaaa
Summary: The ragtail adventures of Sundancer and Elder with the Autobots. Takes place during the movie and onward (G1)
Relationships: Hot Rod/Sundancer
Kudos: 1





	1. Invasion and Captivity

**Author's Note:**

> Sestra is apart of the Quantum Galaxy which is located in what is called the unreachable zone due to the electric storm that encloses Sestra and her neighboring planets and moons. This is why they do not know much about the war other than the fact their leaders had fled Cybertron to escape it and settled here.
> 
> They are however able to leave if need be thanks to the natural abundance of Sistronian which is a rare metal that can deflect all electrical currents including the storm. 
> 
> Sestrians are not made of full metal, their forms consist of an organic metal that is far weaker than an average cybertronian metal but gives them far more flexibility and speed. Most Sestrians also do not have transformation cogs either due to Ringer, Blitz, and Amarr wanting to separate themselves as much as they could from Cybeertronians in an attempt to avoid the war. (This is why Sundancer prefers her bipedal form more often then not)
> 
> They also only come in shades of silver, black, and white depending on their occupation. The only ones known to have color are Amarr's descendants more specifically Elder and Sundancer.
> 
> This will mostly be through Sundancer's POV although I'll make sure to mention when the POV changes.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Invasion, mass killings, and capture

**Location: Quantum Galaxy, Sestra**

* * *

Sundancer hummed to herself as she walked through the plaza which was bustling with transformers as the workers tended to the stalls or repairs while children played near the Energon fountain. She was glad she was born into peaceful times, but even she knew beyond the safety of the static field that protects Sestra, its neighboring planets, and its moons was a waging war that had been going on for over 9 million years.

Their leaders, Amarr the great scientist/healer, Blitz the warrior, and Ringer who was just a simple construction bot who built their escape shuttle were their ancestors who had escaped Cybertron just as the war started to pick up.

Their world is divided into 3 factions, the guardians who are the main protectors and descendants of Blitz, the workers who make up 90% of the population who were descendants of Ringer and the scientists who only made up 1% as Amarr only ever made 5 transformers to carry his knowledge and legacy on. 

While the other 4 children had created 5-6 transformers each to take over their roles, Elder who was the first created by Amarr which also made him Amarr's heir and leader of their planet only made one creation- a femme which he raised as his very own daughter. Her name was Sundancer and she was the only female descendant of Amarr since the others believed Amarr's legacy should be kept within the mechs however Elder had of course disregarded all that and chose to create her instead.

Since she was the only one that Elder created, this made her the heiress to Amarr's legacy and the future leader of their planet which resulted in her having to grow up learning all she could about being a leader as well as being a scientist and a medical officer. Afterall she would be classified as a disgrace if she was unable to handle the 3 occupations.

It was necessary for her to be under such high expectations since if she wasn't ready when it came to inheriting the knowledge it would make her insane and kill her in a slow torturous way so she threw herself into her studies making sure she would be ready for when the day would come. 

**Her POV:**

Sundancer walked up the stairs to the entrance of the great hall where the scientists work on new defenses and formulas to help workers and guardians alike. She said hello to a few faces she knew before heading to Elder’s lab for her lesson.

I knocked 4 times before I heard him say enter when I did though I had to do a double-take. His whole office looked like a tornado went through it, the fireplace which she couldn't remember having been ever used was glowing brightly while Elder frantically tossed as much paperwork into the fire, Elder only stopped long enough to give me a stern look

"Don't stand there! Help me burn all of this" he ordered urgently and I quickly jumped into action grabbing the nearest pile and started throwing it into the fire.

It was then I realized this was his entire life work and research on the secret formula of Amarr

"Sire! Why are we burning your life's work!" I asked frantically because I was starting to think he was going insane from the knowledge and I wasn't ready to inherit everything yet.

Elder let out a deep exhausted sigh "because Sundancer, I had a vision. Evil beings are coming for everyone on this planet and they won't stop till they get their hands on this formula" he explained quickly and I understood the severity of his words. Visions were very rare and they only happened when something horrific was going to happen, so I quickly pulled out my blaster which was a gift from Elder when I finally was in my final frame and changed it before shooting the remaining piles causing them to incinerate instantly.

Elder just stood there both his office and frame now covered in ash "you know you shouldn't misuse that blaster, it's for self-defense only" he warned and I just nodded absentmindedly putting it away in my subspace pocket.

"Was all this necessary though?" I asked gesturing to the mess and Elder nodded

"Yes, because they are already here" he responded ominously, and as if it was timed the planet-wide alarms started blaring confirming Elder's words. This meant two things either people evacuated to the shelters or to the shuttles depending on the situation, I looked at the mech that was my Sire and there was nothing but an extremely dark look on his face which unsettled me before he grabbed my hand and pulled me into the empty dark hallways that were slightly illuminated by the flashing red emergency lights.

With only the red lights to guide us, we hurried away from the main exit down a bunch of hallways I had never seen before until we reached a dead end, I was confused shouldn't we be going towards the exit with all the others so we could escape.

Elder let go of my hand long enough to open his chest and remove a small device, he placed it on the wall and it beeped before a secret passage was revealed

"come child" was all he said so I followed him down the dark passage. It has gotten extremely quite the further we got away from the building till the only noise was our footsteps on the cold ground. Finally, Elder stopped and pushed against large stone blocking us to reveal the dimming light of outside, he climbed out first before assisting me out.

It was then I realized we were in the Rebirth forest, well at least I believed it was since I had never seen this part before.

"I didn't even know there was a passage that leads here" I commented quietly as we walked in silence.

"Of course you wouldn't only the leaders know of the planet's secrets" he answered and I knew he wouldn't tell me anything more.

It was then I felt fear rip through me and I turned just as I felt shocking pain course through my system, I screamed before collapsing to the ground I was barely able to look up to see some strange robotic sharks holding my sire by the arms stopping him from getting any closer, It was then I felt a pair of arms restrain me as well.

I felt so sore but I knew I couldn't pass out when we were captured by the enemy and even worse I couldn't even activate my subspace pocket to get my blaster either from the damn shocking my systems got. Focusing my gaze on my surroundings, my optics locked onto a 5 faced being on a beam of energy; I wasn't quite sure what was going on but looking at Elder's face I could see hatred and pain which had me tensing my frame-up. Never in my life had I ever seen my sire so angry and in pain before.

"Let my daughter go, she doesn't have what you're looking for" Elder begged desperately and there was a chuckle of dark laughter from the strange being

"If we let her go she will join the rest of your people in executions" it merely explained before turning to me

"Kill her!" it ordered. Hearing those words I tried to struggle as the spear got closer to my chest until Elder yelled to stop.

The robot sharks paused and looked at the strange being for orders "hold it, are you going to tell us where the formula is?" the being asked and Elder looked down

"She has the formula" he answered with his head hanging low and I gasped.

My father, my creator just lied saying I had the formula, why would he do such a thing. I saw the being seemed to consider his words before turning to the shark robots "take them both to my ship, we will extract the formula from both of them one way or another" he ordered. I felt myself getting pulled back as we were dragged back through the forest and into the city where I was horrified at all the destruction.

Mothers were clinging to their children while the shark robots stabbed their loved ones right in front of their optics, I noticed that most if not all the guardian bodies made up most of the dead transformers so far. I felt liquid run down my face and realized for the first time in my entire life I was actually crying, I had never experienced the emotion but seeing my innocent people getting murdered must have triggered this reaction.

Elder looked at me "don't worry my little Sunshine, just don't look" he comforted and I nodded forcing myself to look away as we were lead to the strange spiral ship that had crushed the statue of our ancestors. As we were boarding I heard yelling and turned my head enough to see Ace with a small group of guardians running towards us.

He was yelling my name and I felt my spark fill with hope that they would save us but it was completely crushed when the robotic sharks intercepted them and we were shoved on board and into a small cell. Collapsing to the ground I buried my face in my knees while Elder wrapped an arm over me whispering assurances that everything was going to be okay even though we both knew deep in our spark it wasn't.

After what felt like an eternity, the ship jittered roughly as if we had finally landed. The cell door opened and the 'shark bots' as that is what I'm calling them now slapped energy cuffs over our hands and lead us out in a single line.

I blinked adjusting to the strange environment, it was made entirely out of metal which was very different from home which had been a beautiful blend of organic and metal, I shoved those thoughts away when were shoved into a large open roof building. The inside was nothing amazing, the main center was a large circular room, a throne sat on a dais, there was a large circular dent on the floor that seemed to open up and I really didn't want to find out what was underneath.

We were led to the back of the room and through a door which led to the jail cells, they put me and Elder in the same cell and as the door closed the cuffs restricting us also disappeared. It fascinated me the vastly different technology these beings had but I was still angry about the whole invasion and kidnapping so I didn't care too much either.

There was a tiny window that allowed us to view the main circular room, I couldn't understand it's function unless it was for prisoners to watch what was going to eventually happen to them and I really didn't want to be here to find out.

I noticed there was a shadow in the corner of our cell, it was another transformer but they were not the same as the ones who kidnapped us. He seemed to be asleep so I cleared my throat and his optics opened, Elder was observing from the wall but I could tell he was trying to figure out a way for us to survive this so I figured I might as well as find out who our cellmate is.

The other transformer eyed me cautiously as I stopped a few feet away and knelt down to their eye level

"Hello, my name is Sundancer. May I know yours?" I asked politely and the other transformer seemed to consider his options before responding

"Kranix" he responded in a swift sharp tone but I could tell it was a defensive mechanism and something horrible must have happened to him. Perhaps like us he was kidnapped from his home?

"Do you know where we are or who our captives are?" I fished for answers because I really did want to put a name to the face or faces to be more accurate of our kidnappers. Kranix eyed me as if checking to see if I was lying before he seemingly found his answer and he relaxed a little

"I don't know nor care for their individual names however their race is called the Quintessons, this is their planet they created. It's called Quintessa. Those robot sharks you see outside they are called Sharkticons and they are the Quintessons main army. There are many different Quintesson's out there however it seems the one who brought you here is the only one here at the moment" he explained and closed his optics and I wondered if he had fallen back asleep but he opened them again just as quickly.

"Now that I answered your question, why are you even here?" he asked and I shrugged sitting down on the ground in front of him to get more comfortable

"They are after a secret that my people protect. They took both me and Elder because they know one of us has it" I briefly explained as I still didn't trust this Kranix person with the knowledge of which one of us has the formula. Kranix seemed to accept it and I could see he looked a lot older than his form showed however I figured I pushed enough and excused myself before walking back over to Elder who was on the other side of the small cell.

"Our cellmate is a person who has also experienced great loss, I can feel it in his spark" I commented quietly and Elder nodded a small smile

"very well done, I see you have unlocked your reading potential. Sunshine I may have a way to buy us more time but I need to know that you're ready" he whispered back and I knew immediately what he was suggesting

"Elder I am not ready. I never finished my training" I tried to deny but I knew it really was the only thing to do in this situation

"Sundancer you will listen to me" Elder ordered and I lowered my head in submission knowing he was very serious

"I don't want to do this either my sunshine however they believe I hold the formula, if I transfer parts at a time it will make it incredibly harder for them to extract it. Buying us more time to figure a way out of here" Elder explained and I nodded.

He was going to do it in parts, that meant I would have time to adjust so maybe I can do this until I remembered what else was included in the process

"Wait if you transfer the formula you will also transfer Amarr's wisdom as well!" I countered quickly and Elder nodded

"yes my child, you will essentially ascend to being the new leader however I am afraid we no longer have a home or people to return to so it will not count and you will remain as your normal self just a lot wiser and very knowledgeable and maybe I can finally retire if we survive this" Elder answered, his tone was joking at the end but it made me feel much better about our whole situation.

I slid down the wall with my legs under me, this was it I was going to finally fulfill my purpose of why I was created in the first place. Elder looked me in the optics and I nodded steeling my resolve that I was going to accept my fate and I was going to get us out of here.

He placed his hands on my head, we didn't think much of Kranix who was watching curiously but had said nothing so far, after a few moments I felt it. It felt like darkness was creeping over my spark and then the sharp pain shot through my head, I almost wanted to cry out but kept my mouth shut; I could do this. I had to do it, for Sestra, for my people.

Slowly the pain lessened after what felt like vorns. It was then realized that I could actually understand some of the stuff that was flowing into my head which felt like absolute bliss and I never wanted it to stop however it was snatched away suddenly making me feel like someone just dumped a bucket of icy cold water over me snapping me back to the reality.

I slowly opened my optics, not knowing when I had actually closed them to see Elder staring at me venting with wide optics, my gaze then moved over to see even Kranix was surprised at what he just witnessed "amazing, normally the entire process hurts but your processor accepted it. You truly are a descendant of Amarr" he whispered in pride and I felt spark swell with happiness at his approval.

I then realized that everything seemed extremely clear as well as tinged slightly red. I felt like a switch was flipped in my mind as I suddenly could see through the walls and could see the clear shapes of our guards outside. This, of course, caused me to freak and in my panic, the switch seemed to mentally flip again and the red faded allowing me to see a solid wall again.

"What has happened to me!" I demanded terrified, Elder knelt next to me and placed a comforting hand on my shoulder

"You, my dear have unlocked your special ability. You have a visor you can activate which allows you to identify objects and their components. In a medical situation, you can alter it to x-ray mode to show you how much damage is done and where it's located" Elder explained softly. Thinking about my visor, I realized it had been the mental switch I had just flipped off so I flipped it on again.

This time I was ready so I found it pretty cool and knew it come in handy for our escape attempt. The sound of footsteps made me mentally put the visor away just as two Sharkticons entered the cell, they grabbed Elder roughly by the arms and I jumped up trying to stop them but a third one pointed their spear at me which kept me in my place until they exited the cell taking Elder with them.

When the door shut, I looked to Kranix who avoided eye contact. Figuring that I might as well find a way to pass time so I do not fret over Elder I walked over and sat next to him surprising him

"what are you doing," he asked a little flabbergasted

"Well I just have this urge to discover new things and I was wondering if you could tell me about your home" I asked gently and for the first time, I saw a young youthful look cross his face as he nodded

"very well young one" and then proceeded to explain his planet and his people even going as far as to explain their politics.

We had been talking for quite some time when we heard familiar footsteps before the door opened and they shoved Elder in harshly causing him to grunt as he fell to the floor, I got up and hurried over to him worried as the door snapped shut.

Kranix even stood up and walked over, he helped me roll Elder over and offered him some of the leftover bit of Energon he had saved from his last meal which he couldn't remember having anymore.

Once Elder finished he slowly sat up "god they are such cruel beings" he muttered and I smiled softly knowing Elder would be alright. Elder had thanked Kranix for the little bit of Energon but Kranix shook his head

"Don't thank me, thank your sunshine there" he merely responded before walking back over to his corner and sitting down. Elder gave me a questioning look and I explained how I formed a semi friendship with Kranix which Elder smiled gently at

"I am proud of you my daughter but I fear the Quintessons are not going to give up till they get this formula but I'm too tired right now. Let me rest and I'll give you the 2nd part" he requested so I gently laid him against the wall before sitting next to him and laying my head on his shoulder and slowly letting my optics fall shut till I went into recharge.

A large amount of time has passed since we were taken from our home and put into the caring care of the Quintessons. So far they have only taken Elder away 3 more times and each time he made sure to transfer another part once he had been returned. I was one part away from completing the entire transfer process.

Over the time we spent in captivity, we have seen what happened to the other prisoners and I regret ever watching when the first one was executed. The worst one was when a couple had been executed together and their last words were that they wished they could have seen their little youngling one more time.

My spark broke because it reminded me of how my people's mothers, fathers, and children alike were all just slaughtered for no reason other than pure satisfaction and for the stupid formula that was more of a curse than any blessing.

Kranix had been really quite last few joors I think as you couldn't quite tell day and night in the cell, he had also been mumbling a name 'Unicron' in his recharge and just the name sends pure terror right through my circuits, It was then that I decided I must know why such a name terrifies me so I approach Kranix who barely registers my presence

"Kranix could I ask who Unicron is?" at me saying that name Kranix seemed to seize up almost as if his whole form locked up in fear before he relaxed ever slightly

"Unicron is the name of the monster that ate my entire planet. He is the size of 3-4 massive planets and once you see him coming it's already too late. I am the only survivor to my knowledge that made it from Unicron's gravity field, my partners I worked with also escaped however as it devoured our planet they got caught in the gravity and were sucked in as well. Their ship stood no chance" Kranix explained a deep sorrow crossing his face and I felt terrified and regretful for even asking and dredging up obviously bad memories.

To think that there is something huge enough to eat planets whole was scary on its own but that it can also trap and suck things in, I hoped I would never meet face to face with it.

"Sunshine it is time" I heard Elder call and I nod to Kranix who seems to have slipped into recharge again, he tends to do that a lot which makes me wonder if he is dreaming of his life before Unicron destroyed it.

I sit against the wall, my legs tucked to my side, Elder kneels down in front of me and I can see he wanted to make sure I was 100% ready for the burden I was about to bear; with a firm nod of determination I felt him place his hands on my head than the typical darkness, however, there was no pain all I felt was true bliss. After what seemed like a lifetime but in reality, it was only a few nanoklicks I felt the cold bucket of water wash over me and I opened my optics, to see Elder exhausted but looking proud. I then noticed that he looked a lot older then when I closed my optics, deciding to see if my frame had changed I looked down and gasped.

No longer was I a protoform without an alt mode, it seems that with inheriting the wisdom, knowledge, and formula I also inherited Amarr's alt mode which if rumors were true my new alt should be a Cybertronian bike of sorts.

I looked at Elder and he could tell I wanted to know how to transform

"all you must do is command yourself and you will succeed" he answered the unspoken question so I thought about transforming into a bike and sure enough I felt my form shift and within an astrosecond, I had transformed into a gorgeous sunset colored bike with a soft hue of pink. I looked amazing and wished I could try driving but the cell was far too small for that.

With that and the strangeness of being much closer to the ground, I decided that being in my alt was too much and transformed back into my bipedal form feeling much more comfortable. Elder must have caught my relieved look as he chuckled

"you will get used to it my sunshine, I'm so proud of you" Elder assured softly and I could really see the age show through

"Elder you look so much older" I responded giggling a little and Elder nodded rubbing the beard that had magically grown

"without Amarr's wisdom, I no longer have access to his secret of youth" Elder responded honestly. Before I could say anything else a sharp pain and pressure like a train had just slammed into me flashed across my frame and helm, I could barely make out Elder and Kranix calling my name worried as I felt my frame falling forward as darkness consumed me.


	2. Execution Time! and the most unlikely of friends

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sundancer now has Amarr's knowledge, Kranix and Elder are on the chopping block and of course, the Autobots drop-in at the worst time.

**Location: ?, Quintessa**

**Elder's POV (surprise!)**

I caught my daughter as her form crumbled, I could tell that she had overloaded with everything and caused a surge that would repair itself while she was recharging so I gently laid her on the floor. Kranix who had watched the whole scene got up and walked over

"You know that doing this you put her in more grave danger" Kranix merely stated and I didn't turn to look at him as he walked back to his corner. We both knew that his days are numbered and so are mine at this rate but at least I know I can preserve Sundancer's life just a little longer.

I heard the familiar footsteps as the door opened, the usual sharkticons guards came in and slapped the cuffs on my wrists. Even though by now it was more a formality thing since I had no intention of trying to escape and getting chowed down in the process at this current moment, I followed them out the door and looked at Sundancer who laid still recharging before following them down the now familiar walk ways.

By now I knew how to get there but followed the guards anyways, we finally entered a room and I laid down on the table where the cuffs disappeared and the restrains strapped in place preventing me from even flinching. The Quintesson who I've taken to calling squid head since he looks more like a squid than anything else entered with the machine and went through the same routine of asking me if I'll willingly give up the formula which I always give my sharp reply of go and jump back in the ocean, of course, this only made it laugh as the Sharkticons strapped the helmet piece to my head before leaving. I watched the Quintesson ask one more time and I still refused and thus began the torture of feeling like my entire body was being ripped apart one particle at a time.

I forgotten how much time had passed due to the pain except that the Quintesson had grown really frustrated as typical however he then became confused before settling on having a neutral face with a smile which made me get a bad feeling that it has figured out that I no longer possess the formula. I felt the pain stop and the Quintesson laughing

"So you think you were being smart and transferred the formula to the femme? Well I guess she will just have to take your place" it stated and I felt the restraints free me and I lunged at the Quintesson

"Don't you slagin think of touching her!" I yelled however I was quickly subdued by the much heavier and stronger Sharkticons and since I no longer possess the ability to transform I had no way of escaping. The being just waved its tentacles all weirdly

"have him set up for the next execution after that Kranix gets executed. Then we will begin the process on the femme" the Quintesson ordered and I allowed them to drag me back to our cell.

Once they tossed me inside and the cuffs vanished I punched the wall and ended up regretting it but didn't show it, Sundancer had come back online sometime before I returned and was concerned why I was angry.

I allowed myself to calm before I said anything

"Sunshine, they know I no longer have the formula. They know you have it, so they have put me on the execution list" I explained and as I guessed her face warped into fear "but I can't lose you as well!" she yelled and buried her face into her hands before she sat down and didn't say anything else.

I knew she was hurting so I left her and sat down next to Kranix "I'm next aren't I?" he merely asked and all I could do was nod and he sighed

"Well I suppose it's better than being devoured by Unicron" he responds and I knew that was the end of the conversation right there so I scooted into the other corner of the cell and allowed myself to go into recharge since it could very well be the last time I would sleep. As the darkness crept in, my last thought was that no matter what I would protect Sundancer even in the afterlife.

**Her POV:**

I am pretty sure a joor has passed since any of us made a noise. I could sense the depressing aura and it made me feel sick that I couldn't do anything to save my friend and creator from certain death, I felt a shift in the air and the sounds of disagreeing and rough voices and the door to the cell next to us opened and 2 transformers were shoved inside.

One was an old-timer looking bot with a greyish-silver colour and a wise face, he reminded me a lot of Elder but I could tell he would just as much of a grump. The other one was the bot that caught my interest the most, he was a bright orange with yellow flames and the occasional touch of red, I immediately felt a strange feeling in my spark, my cheeks heated up and I was really confused on why I was feeling like this.

I heard Kranix stand up so I quickly ducked into the shadows so I could observe but not be seen either, Elder was also online but was quietly leaning agonist the wall half in the shadows. The two bots were talking about missing friends, crashed ship, where they were and something about if this place reminded the older one of somewhere, the younger one who I was interested in was definitely a hot head and I could tell he was ready to bust out of the cell any second, but the older one told him to cool his jets.

It's then they turned to realise there were people in the other cell

"where are we anyways?" the younger one asked and Kranix stepped forward into the light so he was clearly visible

"The world of the savage Sharkticons and their cruel masters the Quintessons. They hunt down those who try to escape the wrath of Unicron, and put them on trial." He answered them and I was confused, Kranix never mentioned this when he told me about Unicron so why was he telling them something completely different then what he told us, probably has to do with we didn't escape Unicron and they had their own agenda of bringing us here.

"But what if they're innocent?" the older one asked and Kranix's face was grim

"Guilty or innocent, the sentence is always the same - death!" he hissed and I realised that Kranix had accepted his fate and was now just passing on the warning message to them.

The younger one seemed to be concerned about something Kranix just said "Unicron?! Who's Unicron" he asked and Kranix face fell blank as he recalled what happened to his world

"A planet six times the size of this one that absorbs everything in its path." Kranix grimly explained and the 2 newcomers grimaced obviously they have seen or heard about this planet eater and I wondered if it too ate their world

"So that's the monster's name." the older one comments and the younger one seemed to want to leave even more judging from the slowly growing frustrated look

"I wonder if there's any connection between it and Galvatron." He questions just as familiar footsteps approach the cells, I tensed and slinked over to Elder and held his arm as if he was a safety blanket, Elder for the most part didn't even look up however he did look at Kranix who started to look terrified.

The Sharkticon guard opens the door and looks at the 3 of us, although the other 2 bots didn't see me yet and only partly saw Elder, it then spots Kranix and points to him "that one" was all it said then immediately two more Sharkticons and seized Kranix by the arms and started to drag the poor bot out who was yelling.

I let go of Elder's arm almost at the same time the younger one was yelling at them to let Kranix go, I dove forward out of the shadows knocking a guard over, the others whirled on me however before they could grab me Elder pulled me back and behind him

"you know you can't hurt her" he threatened, even though they were prisoners the Quintessons still want the formula so they were not supposed to be harmed in any way until they had the formula.

The guards merely turned their back and the door shut and I was shaking because I couldn't have saved Kranix. He was the only survivor of his world and now they will all cease to exist, I felt Elder hug me, I could hear the trial from the cell as the window allowed noise to pass through apparently, the two newcomers were watching but I couldn't bear to hear another person die so I curdled into a ball against the wall covering my ears.

Elder however did with a vacant expression all too soon I felt his remove his arms and I knew it was over and Kranix had officially offlined, at least he could rest in peace finally and never worry about Unicron again.

I partly heard the older one saying that wasn't how he wanted to go out but I didn't care too much. Eventually, the familiar footsteps approached again however both cell doors opened, two guards slapped an energy band around each newcomer however when they came for Elder, I jumped into action I managed to wrangle away one of the spears but I was quickly overpowered again; I felt my form fly across the room as I hit the furthest wall with a cry as my whole form shook of pain.

Through my tear-stained eyes, I could see the 2 newcomers attempting to struggle but failing and Elder was just watching me before he mouthed goodbye. I reached a hand for him trying to say his name but I was so far away and slowly I felt darkness consume my optics as my damaged body went into recharge while it began to repair damages.

**Elder's POV:**

I wanted to run to her and make sure she was okay but I knew it was impossible, I couldn't shake the image of the pain, fear, and tears on her face as she was flung aside and tried so hard to reach me but the door blocked my last view of her. I didn't say a word the entire time, the two newcomers I could tell were curious about me, but I was going to focus first on escaping this mockery trial alive and freeing Sundancer.

We were forced onto the edge of a small platform that over hanged a large deep pit filled with the orange liquid with too many Sharkticons to count, I felt a nudge in my side "What is your name? might as well get the name of the other bot who is about to get munched with us" the younger one joked, the older one wasn't amused but I decided it wouldn't matter soon anyway

"my name is Elder" I answered, the younger one looked like he wanted to say something else but the older one nudged him to pay attention

"before we deliver your verdict, would you like to beg for your lives?" the Quintesson asked in mockery and I felt anger build-up, I haven't felt anger so much since before I inherited Amarr's wisdom maybe that is one of the downfalls perhaps

"I don't beg to squids" I decided to throw out, I heard muffled laughter from behind me and I knew I officially pissed the squid Quintesson off. I heard whispering behind me and the Quintessons were getting angry

"Silence or ill hold you for contempt in this court" it ordered, however, the young one didn't take the hint

"I have nothing but hate for this court" he shot back, the face turned to death and the platform dropped out beneath us. The restraints vanished thankfully and we landed with a splash sending us down below the waiting Sharkticons.

They both transformed and I had barely time dodge the Sharkticon currently trying to eat me, they had transformed into vehicles and had created a whirlpool which drained all the water which put us on an even playing field. I barely managed to fend off 2 Sharkticons and didn't see the 3rd one about to take off my head if it wasn't for the older one ramming into them causing them to fly to the other side before transforming next to me, the younger one also joined up with us.

No matter how many they crushed and I punched, they just kept coming. The Sharkticons began to overwhelm us and I felt them chopping on my form until I could barely see above me there were that many and it honestly felt like I might really die until there were loud bangs, I managed to look up to see one of the Quintessons (the squid one of course) was attempting to escape during the fight but the door fell down and crushed the squid.

4 large Dinobots would be the proper term to call them walked in well 3 did, one flew in; there was also a small orange youngling on the biggest Dinobot's head who I assumed would be their leader. The Sharkticons tried to attack the new threat however it was naught and they quickly overpowered the Sharkticons to the point they were too terrified to even attack anymore, the Sharkticons that had swarmed me had all retreated and I stood up.

I heard rustling and turned to see the young and older one also pulling themselves out of the pile of Sharkticon bits "Never thought I would be glad to see those bozos" the older one commented looking at the younger one and I could tell he was making sure he was alright. I got the vibe that despite the older one's grumpy demander to the younger one, he looked after him as if he was a mentor to make sure the kid didn't get himself in too much trouble.

The leader Dinobot stomped however it wasn't threatening "me Grimlock no bozo. Me Grimlock King!" he announced and I could see why they called them bozos they were not exactly the smartest transformers.

We looked up to our audience who were quite furious at the cease-fire and the arrival of the Dinobots

"Sharkticons! Execute them!" one of them ordered and the Sharkticons transformed looking at each other not sure if they should disobey their masters, the decision as quickly made as Grimlock stomped hard shaking everything and roared

"Me Grimlock say execute them" he countered offered point at them and the Sharkticons looked at each other and started to grin before charging to the side of the pit and piling on top of each other to escape.

"I have a feeling the problems on this planet are going to be solved very shortly" the older one commented and the younger one turned to him

"but what about our problems we need a ship!" he added

"you get a ship. If I get a trip" the tiny orange youngling offered sitting on Grimlock's nose apparently, the other 2 hadn't noticed at all

"Who are you?" the young one asked, Grimlock lifts his nose up with youngling on it

"Him wheelie. Him friend" Grimlock answered the young one smiled

"he'll be mine too if he can find us a ship" the young one mentioned and Wheelie points to the same corkscrew ship that had taken me and Sundancer from our planet

"ship there. over there" Wheelie added and Kup was a little confused

"that's a ship?" he questioned before they remembered I was standing there. They turned to me "oh you did survive Elder" the young one comments and I merely shake my head "of course, I can't die to those stupid sharks while my daughter would be left at the hands of the Quintessons" I merely mentioned

"that girl that tried to help you was your daughter?" the older one asked and I nodded. "well your welcome to join us, both of you" the young one offers and I think over the options but honestly there was nothing else to compare it with

"Alright, but we got to get her out of the cells first" I accepted

"Alright, Kup, Elder, Wheelie and the Dinobots head for the ship. I'll get her out" the younger one offered but I stopped him

"before I let any mech get near her, what are your names" I more demanded than asked but they seemed to realise they never introduced themselves "name is Hot Rod, the old-timer there is Kup and the Dinobots: Grimlock, Slag, Sludge and Swoop" Hot Rod introduced and I nodded.

I didn't want to let the kid go get her alone but I knew he would get her out faster so I reluctantly followed the others led by Wheelie to the ship.

**Her POV:**

I couldn't see, the darkness was too much. I opened my optics and the cell was empty, I remembered why I went into recharge so suddenly and I felt my spark ache knowing that the only person who ever truly cared for me was gone. I heard footsteps but they were different, heavier than the Sharkticon guards. The door didn't open instead I saw sparks as the door was being melted off, I tried to get up but I realized my leg must have suffered external damages somehow.

The door fell and I yelped and it took me a second to recognize that it was the young newcomer, he looked around before spotting me still in the same spot on the floor from where I got flung, he slowly walked over as if I was a frighted animal and knelt down

"Hey it's going to be okay, I came here to get you so we can all get out of this place" he calmly explained and I just stared at him, he was close and my spark felt really warm, I looked away trying to hide any reactions my face might show. I'm guessing when I didn't say anything he got annoyed slightly

"my name is Hot Rod" he greeted holding his hands out, I looked at him them his hand before taking it

"Sundancer" I greeted back quietly.

Hot Rod looked at my leg "now I know you never got up, is it okay if I carry you to the ship?" he asked softly and I considered it.

I barely knew the guy but if he was here helping me escape, means Elder must be alive too and I had to see him.

"Alright" I accepted albeit nervous since I didn't have many interactions with male mechs, I was only ever allowed to associate with Ace because we grew up together and he was my personal guard and of course my father Elder.

I felt him wrap an arm around my waist and under my legs being careful of my damages, he then stood up and I clung to his neck since I wasn't expecting him to get up quickly. Realizing how closely I was holding an unfamiliar mech I quickly loosed my grip, he laughed a little before exiting the cell. I could feel my systems wanting to go back into recharge to continue repairs and I wouldn't say this out loud but I felt safe in Hot Rod's arms so I allowed my optics to dim before everything went dark.

I heard voices before I could fully come back online, I opened my optics to see a giant snout in my face.

I got grumpy and shoved it away before sitting up "where am I?" I questioned.

I saw 4 Dinobots, one of them was the one who had their big snout near my face, I recognized Hot Rod who was watching me, I saw the older transformer who was at the controls, there was a small orange youngling sitting on the makeshift berth I was on and Elder who just seeing his face made a whole weight disappear off my shoulders.

Elder walked over and I flung my arms around him and he hugged me back. I felt so relieved, we had finally escaped with new friends and Elder was alive, I pulled away and Elder gave me an introduction to everyone I didn't know.

Once he finished a small orange youngling jumped into my lap making himself comfortable, I didn't mind as he was really cute but I figured that was my natural mother instincts kicking in, the small orange youngling looked at me and I remembered the couple who I had watched get executed. They looked a lot like this little guy and I realized Wheelie must have been their youngling they were begging to see before they died.

Wheelie pointed to me "you are warm" before he went into recharge. I gently shifted the small youngling so he was on my arm instead of resting on my chest before I looked at everyone else who was a little surprised

"What?" I asked "first time me Grimlock have heard the boy speak normally" Grimlock stated and I looked down at the small youngling, I knew he didn't have parents and I decided them I would protect this small Youngling with my life.

Hot Rod was giving me a look I couldn't quite describe before he went to join Kup at the ship's controls, Elder examined my leg "your leg has basically repaired itself and I managed to fix the dent it had but still take it easy till you are sure you can walk properly" he suggests and I nodded and hopped off the makeshift berth, I was pleased I felt no more pain.

I took a few experimental steps however my leg must have been stiff and I felt my leg buckle and I started to fall forwards but I managed to correct myself; I walked around a little more before I was confident I was functioning normally.

I walked over to the controls standing behind Kup who looked at me holding Wheelie before a soft smile settled on his face although I'm pretty sure I imagined it "glad to see you're up lass" he comments and I nod at him with a smile "Yeah, I'm glad to be free of that planet, I just wish we could have had a home to return to" I responded quietly, Kup nudges Hot Rod to take over and he turns in his chair to face me "where are you guys even from anyways?" he asked

"I and Elder are from the Quantum galaxy, our home planet is Sestra. Our world was so beautiful and we rarely had conflicts. I was in training to become the next leader of Sestra, Elder was the current leader and would pass on the wisdom of Amarr to me when it was time for me to take over. I had to train in both of Amarr's fields: medicine and scientific research while I also had to balance learning about how to lead an entire planet of people. We made trades to the other few planets in our solar system using the precious rare metal that only formed on our planet so the other planets had access in and out of the electrical storm that surrounded our galaxy keeping us essentially isolated from the rest of the universe." Sundancer paused to take a slight vent before continuing

"Life was good, we were prospering and then the Quintessons attacked, they were after a secret that only the next descendant of Amarr holds. It is Amarr's legacy that he spent his entire life working and perfecting. The only copy exists in the current leader of the planet who was Elder who had it passed down to him from Amarr himself. The Quintessons somehow found out about it and managed to invade our the planet, we had escaped through a secret tunnel however we were caught by Sharkticons. I almost died if it wasn't for Elder lying and saying I had the secret. They took us both prisoners and slaughtered the rest of our people. We were there for quite some time before you crashed and that's it really" I explained.

The silence was thick until Hot Rod broke it "well don't worry, we are going to find our friends and we are going to save our planet and you guys will finally have a new home" Hot Rod reassured and the atmosphere became one of a determined one.

I also had decided I would fight this great evil and help save their planet, I turned to Elder who was looking at me with a look that I knew he was proud of me, but I knew he wouldn't be able to help so I would have to fight alone. No, I wouldn't be alone because we had new friends to help us and for that fact, I could feel the pain and suffering that was still in my spark dissipate and I was sure I would help save our new home from destruction as well.


	3. Character information (Skip if not needed)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Basic info on Sundancer and Elder to help you understand them better.

**Designation:** Sundancer (Sunshine)

**Role:** Heiress (former), Medic/Scientist

**Appearance:** She resembles a lot like the human Alana who transformed into a transformer **(reference episode: Sea Change)** however she has a digital visor that she can activate which allows her to scan anything to x-ray through most items to locate any damage or to identify something, her colour scheme resembles a sunset orange colour with a tint of reddish-pink. Her transform mode is a hoverbike. She can activate a hologram of a faux rider if needed.

**Backstory:**

Sundancer was created on the peaceful planet of Sestra in the Quantum galaxy far away from the war raging on. She is the last direct descendant of Amarr who was one of Cybertron’s greatest scientist/medical officer. She was still only a student when the Quintessons found and attacked Sestra looking for the formula to an endless energy supply which could be deadly to transformers. They found Elder and Sundancer and Elder managed to talk his way to the Quintessons saying only Sundancer has the formula in an attempt to spare her life. However, the Quintessons were not stupid and ended up taking both Elder and Sundancer hostage while they ordered their sharkticons to slaughter everybody else.

**Personality:** Sundancer is a gentle soul who tries to perceive the best in everyone. She is fiercely loyal to her friends and more so the Autobot cause for saving Elder and her's life. She is a pacifist and will choose peaceful options before ever raising her blaster unless her life is in extreme danger and even then she would only use the stun mode. At times she can fall into funks where she becomes subdued due to the weight and burden of Amarr's wisdom.

**Relationship:**

**Elder-** He is her creator and she views him as her beloved Sire. His opinion is the only thing the one thing that matters most to her and she wants to make him proud, even if it means pushing herself to her limits. She is very dependant on him however as time goes on, she starts to become more and more independent.

**Ace-** He is her childhood best friend. They were created around the same time and went to the same education center as younglings however due to their vastly different ancestry, they were separated with Sundancer being taught how to lead their planet and being prepared to accept Amarr's wisdom while Ace was being taught how to fight and defend. However, after reaching their final frames, Ace was able to get himself promoted to Sundancer's personal bodyguard which allowed them to spend time together. He was on a routine patrol when the Quintesson attacked and was last seen engaging the Sharkticons. He is assumed dead along with the rest of Sestra.

* * *

**Designation:** Elder

**Role:** Archivist, leader (Former)

**Apperance:** He has a slightly larger frame compared to Sundance which was originally cream and brown however after passing the wisdom on, he is more silver and cream. He has a white beard which he likes to rub when thinking deeply.

**Backstory:** Elder is the first created by Amarr, this meant that from the earliest age of his youngling hood he was being taught how to identify the difference between 2 metals and how to seal an Energon line in less than 20 seconds. Just as he was approaching his final frame, Amarr (who had forced his wisdom onto Elder the day before), Ringer and Blitz mysteriously disappeared however the children of Amarr decided to keep their disappearance a secret and created the story that they had offline peacefully.

Elder was immediately named the new leader just as he entered his final frame and was pushed to start creating his heir. However, he took his time, and only after his brothers had created many heirs who in turn made more did he finally make a creation. He created the only femme descendant, Sundancer which immediately put him in a bad light however both he and Sundancer quickly proved that she was just as good as any of her cousins were. He shelters Sundancer knowing that due to her high standing that she would be hounded by mechs for her hand so they could also have a chance at ruling the planet. Ace is so far the only mech who is allowed to be in close contact with Sundancer without his supervision.

**Personality:** Elder is observant and very critical in his thinking. However, he is fiercely protective of Sundancer and will threaten any mech harm if they tried to court her. Superior or not. Like Sundancer, he is a pacifist as were many Sestrians and will try to find a peaceful resolution.

**Relationship:**

**Sundancer-** She is his one and only creation. His absolute pride and joy. He wants only the best for her and will go out of his way to interfere with her life to keep her on the right course. He does let go of his bubble on her when they join the Autobots allowing her to flourish into an independent femme. At times he holds regret for burdening her with Amarr's wisdom.

**Amarr-** is his creator. Elder respects Amarr greatly but he also holds a bit of resentment due to Amarr abandoning him before he was even in his final frame and for forcing his wisdom onto Elder before he was ready. He wants to find Amarr to ask him why he disappeared.

**Ace-** He respects the mech for his dedication to his daughter and doesn't mind him around her.


	4. Rescuing friends! and the end?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sundancer, Elder, and their new friends head off to find their friends missing comrades. Along with facing off against the greatest evil to exist.

**Location: ?, Junkion**

**Her POV:**

We had traveled for quite some time, during the time Kup had told at least 8 war stories keeping Wheelie and the Dinobots happy and not bored for the most part. Elder had been tinkering away with something on his own although I knew he was listening to the stories. I on the other hand had asked if Hot Rod could help me get some combat practice, which he seemed hesitant since he never really had to teach anyone but agreed when I explained if I couldn't even aim I might as well get blown up by Galvatron, who they explained was the leader of the Decepticons, the Autobots mortal enemies.

So most of my time was spent learning how to shoot and close-quarters combat which I still couldn't get the hang of. Hot Rod suggested maybe because I was created for research and medical purposes that it is why I have such a hard time getting close combat down properly so he recommended if it came to it just keep us much distance between myself and my enemy.

Currently, however, we were all standing behind the controls, Kup and Hot Rod were flying the ship and an arched shape planet covered in Junk was apparently our destination. They believed that is where their friend's shuttle had crashed landed so of course, we were going to rescue them, Wheelie was sitting on my shoulder as he does a lot if he isn't with the Dinobots.

I guess I remind him of his mother/creator and has latched onto me because of that but I didn't mind. Having no mother myself I was happy to fill that spot in his spark. As we got closer, I noticed there were a bunch of Autobots who I assumed must be Kup and Hot Rod's friends surrounded by the inhabitants of the planet of Junk.

"Not since the crocodiles of strontero have I seen such a sight" Kup states as all eyes were on the ship as we began our descent.

Once we landed and the ramp connected to the planet, I moved Wheelie to Sludge's neck, I knew if there was going to be a fight Wheelie would be protected by the Dinobots. I stood next to Elder as the door opened and Hot Rod walked out with Kup following, we followed them with the Dinobots and Wheelie bringing up the rear. When we reached the bottom of the ramp, Kup moved to pull his blaster out but Hot Rod stopped him

"Guns aren't exactly friendly" he whispered and Kup scoffed

"neither are they, if you haven't noticed" he replied gruffly, Hot Rod seemed to look for something before pulling out a small box and an Energon stick

"What was that greeting again?" he asked Kup but before Kup could respond Hot Rod seemed to remember it

"never mind I remember" he quickly took back his question before taking another step forward

"Bah weep graaaagnah wheep ni ni bong?" Hot Rod introduced, Wreckgar and the other Junkions look at each other before smiling at Hot Rod

"Bah weep graaaagnah wheep ni ni bong?" Wreckgar replied stepping forward, Hot Rod nodded smiling even more

"Bah weep graaaagnah wheep ni ni bong!" he responds holding out the energy stick, Wreckgar takes the stick and holds it up high for the other Junkions to see, all the Junkions smile and cheer and start chanting the universal greeting phrase, laughing, clapping their hands and dancing around.

I noticed that the other Autobots got dragged into the celebration of dancing and singing. I stuck with Elder and the Dinobots since I felt completely out of my element even though with my new knowledge and wisdom I felt the curious need to find out all about these Junkions but I held myself back in respect.

I did end up being introduced to everyone however, the other femme transformer and her human friend were Arcee and Daniel, the green helicopter was called Springer, the red scientist was Perceptor and apparently they had another friend who was offlined when they were attacked by the Decepticons just before.

Wreckgar stands on top of a platform and rings junk bells getting silence and smiling as he waves hands all-around

"Have a nice day and please, close cover before striking, friends! Amigos, buddies and sidekicks, Breep drit, aw rootie! So say the Junkions!" Wreckgar stated raising hand in the air. Hot Rod was looking at him strangely

"Where did you learn to talk like that?" Wreckgar reaches into his body, and about where a heart or organ would be he pulls out a Watchman. On it is was a commercial of something but not anything like one's back home.

"We talk T.V. You talk some T.V.?" Wreckgar asked Kup walked up to them

"I talk some TV. And now, Hot Rod for the news. Don't touch that dial. Void where prohibited." Kup responded and the Junkions cheer.

Wreckgar then pointed to the remaining pieces of a transformer as far as I could tell, Junkions came from nowhere and they started moving the pieces in a well-oiled assembly line.

I was so fascinated as I watched them piece together the transformer, occasionally they replaced a part but for the most it was all the original parts. Somehow I already knew they could do something like this even though I had never witnessed it before and I assumed that it was just something from Amarr's wisdom, once they had finished assembling the main body I guessed it was another mech, they then dusted and even polish him making him look good as new.

It was a very impressive sight to behold, Wreck gar pulled a switch before walking over as the mech's eyes began to light back up meaning he was coming online

"Happy motoring! Cock-a-doodle-do!' Wreckgar called as the transformer stood up to his full height, he looked around before approaching where Kup, Hot rod and Springer were standing.

All 3 of them got excited seeing their friend was functioning, I didn't listen in to their conversation as I knew it wasn't my business but I did pick up on the blue mech's name which was Ultra Magnus, I had moved so Wheelie could hop on my shoulder, once he was situated I decided to focus back on the conversation just as Ultra Magnus observed everyone, including me, Elder and Wheelie.

"Your all alive..." he states before correcting himself "and there are more than before" he adds meaning the 3 of us, but Hot Rod cut him off "the matrix!", and the word sent a shiver through my spark, I knew what the matrix was. Amarr's knowledge had already experienced what the matrix was and I knew that if Ultra Magnus didn't have it could spell disaster for everyone. Hot Rod had a desperate look on his face, this comment had made everyone look at Ultra Magnus.

"It's gone" Ultra Magnus answered and all the Autobots looked down and even I felt the fear shoot through me at his words "and with it, all hope" Kup adds, but this whole situation apparently spurred Hot Rod to get inspired

"No! the matrix will not fail us" Hot Rod states determinedly but Arcee shook her head "didn't you hear Ultra Magnus. We don't have it anymore. Galvatron does" she reprimanded Hot Rod who shook his head

"Then we got to trust in ourselves, and no matter what the odds. We must destroy Unicron" Hot Rod firmly stated determination in his eyes and I could feel my respect for him growing for not giving up in this dark time for the Autobots.

Wreckgar eyes lit up hearing Unicron's name "Yeah! Destroy Unicron... Kill the grand poobah... Flush cosmic troubles down the drain." Wreckgar started chanting, the rest of the Junkions started to also chant "destroy Unicron!".

Apparently, Hot Rod's words had inspired the Junkions and now we had the numbers to take the fight to Unicron, but of course, someone had to dump a bucket of cold water on the growing determination "Listen, I don't want to rain on anybody's parade. But just how are we going to get an army to Unicron. We don't have enough room on the ship" Springer pointed out, it was a very good question as they wouldn't be able to all fit on the ship we had arrived in.

Wreckgar had an answer though "No fuss, no muss." He answered before turning to the other Junkions "Hurry, hurry. Sale must end! Rush right on down to bridge and test drive latest with no obligation." Wreckgar ordered. All around us, several Junkions scramble to concealed doorways in the Junk.

I looked at Elder who shrugged as he had no clue, Ultra Magnus had turned to Wreckgar "You have ships here?" he asked, "New, improved Junkion planet, is sleek sexy import with turbo handling." Wreckgar answered and Ultra Magnus turned to Springer "what's he talking about?" Springer asked but Ultra Magnus had no answer.

Suddenly, boosters fire from the backside of the junk, and somewhere under all of the junk, we realize is a real space ship. Maybe the junk is the space ship. Springer was impressed "This is what I call traveling in style." He commented and I couldn't help but agree with that statement.

**(Friendly little time skip)**

We had made the plan, Ultra Magnus and Perceptor would ride with the Junkions while everyone else would ride in our ship. With two ships we had a better chance of not all of us getting squished at the same time as we boarded the separate ships I became quite scared of just what we were about to go against, apparently, it was noticeable since I hadn't boarded and they were waiting on me, so Swoop had flown back out and picked me up and dropping me inside the ship.

When he put me down I rubbed his beak thanking him for helping me get past my small burst of fear, our ship took off from the flying Junkions ships and since we had a small amount of downtime, Kup had open comms between the ships so they could discuss battle strategies. I walked over to Elder who had finished tinkering away and he passed a small box device to me, I could see a small clasp so when I opened it I could see it was able to hold a few holo form pictures, one was already in there.

It was a picture from when I was a youngling and Elder had taken me for my first walk through the Rebirth forest. I felt tears creep in my eyes as I hugged him, I understood why he made it. He couldn't tell if we would survive this and in case something happened he wanted me to have something from him to remind me of him.

All too soon the peaceful time was over and we had to sit down as we arrived at Cybertron, I stared at the large metallic planet and then I felt fear freeze my whole body. Cybertron was huge but Unicron was bigger, he stood on top of the planet in full transform mode.

He was swatting at what seemed like flies from our distance but it was actually ships which I assume would be Decepticon ones, the Junkion ship lined side by side with us as we pushed forward. Everyone else was in astonished or horror "wow" was all Daniel could say somewhere behind me, Hot Rod turned to Kup "doesn't this remind you of anything Kup?" he asked, Kup was glassy-eyed "Nope, never seen anything like it" he responded,

"I knew there had to be a first time..." Hot Rod mumbled to himself before opening the intercom "battle stations!".

I helped Wheelie off Grimlock's head and put him on my shoulder as the Dinobots got into position to attack. Hot Rod gave the order and the Dinobots were the first as they exited the hatch and flew towards Unicron as Hot Rod drove us forward right towards Unicron, who had tried to swat at Dinobots and us but he missed and I felt a quick sigh of relief go through me but the battle was only starting.

The Junkion ship had lined up side by side with the Dinobots now aiming right down to Unicron's nose, Unicron was smiling as they start to get close enough and I knew immediately that he was going to try and crush them since he had cupped his hands ready to grab the lot of them once they are in range. I then noticed a small figure on Unicron's chest, they had suddenly transformed and fired at Unicron hitting him the chest causing the giant robot to falter.

I thought that maybe this little transformer had done it but I was very wrong. I froze in horror as Unicron merely grabbed the transformer and dropped them into his mouth like a raisin. I felt sick to my stomach and sat down, Elder placed a hand on my shoulder asking me if I was going to be okay. I nodded taking a quick breather before standing back up, I had to be strong so I wouldn't end up with that transformer's fate.

Suddenly Unicron roared fire at the Junkion ship but it does nothing thankfully, all we could do was watch as he then grabbed the Junkion's ship and easily ripped it in half however it didn't stop the Junkions as the now two separate halves had become two functional ships, I knew I definitely needed to ask Wreckgar to tell me more about their species once we all survived this.

I noticed that Hot Rod look had a determined look on his face and it's when I realized that he had us aimed at Unicron's eye before I could ask him what the hell was he thinking, Unicron fired a beam which knocked and jostled the ship knocking both Kup and Hot Rod out of the control seats, everyone was getting thrown around inside as I held Wheelie protectively against my chest to try and prevent him from getting squashed.

It was then I'm pretty sure we all realized we were on a crash course with Unicron's eye. I saw Unicron through the glass trying to swat us aside but it's too late as the ship ripped right through his eye. However, since no one was piloting the ship started to break apart and I felt the floor disappear beneath me and in my surprise, I had let go of Wheelie. The last thing I saw was seeing everyone who had fallen before me hitting sharp metal spikes things before I felt my head collide with something metal and it was all darkness.

I felt pain before I could see, but if slowly opened my optics to see I was laying on solid ground. Well if you could count solid ground as the inside of a monster transformer. I sat up and looked around the grey and dreary place until I spot bright orange only a few feet away who I quickly identified as Hot Rod. I sat up as he came back online and stood up albeit slowly.

He turned and noticed me so, he walked over and offered his hand which I took gratefully as he helped me up. We both looked around observing our environment "watch your step, this is hostile environment" he warns and I fought the urge to roll my eyes

"oh nah, I didn't think it was, but then again you crashed us right through his eye" I retorted back and blinked never before had I spoken back to anyone especially like that, Hot Rod looked at me and let out a small laugh at my surprised expression.

But I ignored him feeling quite embarrassed and proceed to walk in a random direction. We had only walked for a minute or so when we spotted something glowing on a pile of debris "it's the matrix!" Hot Rod states excited and I was awed at the beautiful glowing light, however, the light moved and Hot Rod seemed to shift into battle stance while I decided to wait.

The light moved out of the shadows and I realized it was actually hanging around the neck of the transformer who I had seen getting eaten earlier. It then clicked, Galvatron had stolen the matrix from Ultra Magnus so that meant that this transformer in front of us was Galvatron, I tensed and pulled out my blaster, but I felt Hot Rod place his hand on it and gently pushed me back a little behind him while he confronted Galvatron.

I understood why he was confronting Galvatron, I would severely have been outmatched if I had tried myself so I waited and was going to be back up if Hot Rod would need it "It will do you no good Autobot, it won't open" Galvatron states, Hot Rod merely stood up taller with a glare "not by a decepticon" he challenged and Galvatron let out a laugh although it was a sinister type of laugh.

Galvatron then tilted his head "Isn't it strange that we find ourselves as allies-" he was cut off as his body started to violent twist and his arms looked like they were about to be ripped off, I looked to Hot Rod confused but he had no clue either apparently.

After a few seconds, the twisting had stopped "of course my master" Galvatron finally said, and I saw the dark look on Galvatron's face

"Move Hot Rod!" I yelled darting to the side and thankfully Hot Rod also dodged the dirty shot that Galvatron had taken at us, it caused electricity to spark everywhere.

I pulled Hot Rod down behind some rubble as I activated my visor surprising Hot Rod but I didn't say anything so I could focus. I spotted Galvatron and knew he was looking around for us

"Puny Autobot, you lack even Prime's courage" Galvatron taunted, I could feel Hot Rod getting angry so I slapped my hand over his mouth to keep him from revealing our location so recklessly.

As Galvatron stalked around the area looking for us, I started to shake; this was terrifying and I had no idea how on earth we could get out of this alive. I guess Hot Rod could feel my hand shaking because he removed it from his mouth before covering mine with his which made my shaking lessen since I was surprised

"don't worry I won't let him hurt you alright, but you need to stay quiet right here" he whispered as he pushed me down a little and all I could do was nod since my spark was warming up again at his touch and I didn't want to say something stupid and reveal our location.

He removed his hand and moved away to behind another pile and all I could do was sit there taking deep quiet breaths, I peeked up over the pile to see that Galvatron had his back to me

"Come out Autobot, we all must die sometime!" Galvatron ordered, suddenly Hot Rod dove out from behind the junk pile and grabbed Galvatron and managed to get a good punch to his face making Galvatron stumbled back. Galvatron then tried to jump at Hot Rod who transformed and drove away, I was really worried but had faith that Hot Rod could handle himself as he seemed to have a plan I hoped, Galvatron transformed and fired again and Hot Rod took this chance to transform back into robot mode allowing him to dodge the shot at him and land a lucky shot on Galvatron making him really angry.

Galvatron raises his gun only to lower it again "No I will crush you with my bare hands" he hissed and I knew he was extremely pissed off and became really worried for Hot Rod. Hot Rod tried to transform to get away again but Galvatron jumped him and managed to pin him while putting his hands on Hot Rod's neck and starts to squeeze. I felt so scared but angry as well, I couldn't sit here and let my friend get the life squeezed out of him

"First Prime, then Ultra Magnus and now you. It is a pity Autobots die so easily otherwise I might have a sense of satisfaction" Galvatron gloats as Hot Rod struggled to pry Galvatron's hands-off.

"GET OFF HIM!" I yelled and jumped at Galvatron from behind the junk pile and managed to punch him the head causing him to remove one hand but he merely swatted me to the side harshly as I felt my back hit the wall again and I let out a painful cry. Through the pain I watched as Galvatron had turned back to Hot Rod

"DIE!" he yelled as Hot Rod who had watched what had happened to me got a really angry face despite the fact he was having his life chocked out of him and I knew he was about to pass out. Suddenly his hands stopped grabbing at Galvatron's and instead latched onto the matrix around Galvatron's neck which had surprised Galvatron who faltered which was enough time for Hot Rod to be able to rip it right off of Galvatron's neck.

Galvatron who was surprised leaped back off Hot Rod allowing him to get up, all I could do is watch in awe and amazement as Hot Rod got bigger and had a much older and wiser look and I knew deep down he was no longer Hot Rod and instead a new name rose in my mind 'Rodimus prime'.

"Optimus" Hot Rod whispered to no one, I noticed Galvatron was about to fire on Hot Rod and was going to warn him but it seemed I didn't need to. "No!" Galvatron had yelled as he shot at Hot Rod, the shot didn't even dent or faze him even if it did knock the matrix to the side.

"This is the end for you Galvatron" Hot Rod announced but he had a much deeper and older voice now, he and Galvatron struggle for a few seconds but Hot Rod apparently was vastly stronger now and easily picked up Galvatron and threw him right out of Unicron's side into space. I got up slowly and approached Hot Rod who had picked the matrix and put his fingers into the slots and slowly opened it making the beautiful green glowing light grow stronger "now light our darkest hour" he whispered as the green light encased the entire room and spread out quickly like a virus invading your body.

Hot Rod put the matrix safely in his chest as an explosion somewhere rocked the room almost making me lose my balance, he grabbed my wrist and pulled me down a random direction as we started running away from the coming explosion as it destroyed everything in Unicron's body. I could feel the heat and the explosions were so close behind us, but I felt great relief to see the others up ahead and we quickly rendezvoused with them, there were 4 new people which I assumed were friends who had been munched and the other human must have been Daniel's dad.

"I knew you had potential lad" Kup states proudly when he sees us as everyone agreed. "Autobots transform and roll out!" Hot Rod orders as Spike and Daniel climb aboard and I joined everyone else as we all transformed following Hot Rod's lead as he rams his way right out of Unicron's other eye, and just in time as well as Unicron roars behind us before his own head was blown clean off, the rest of his body then exploded apart leaving nothing but his head which begins to orbit around Cybertron.

We had all reunited on the surface of Cybertron, I looked for Elder among all the cheering transformers and spotted him with Ultra Magnus, Perceptor and Wreckgar. I joined them as we headed up above the reconstruction that has started below us where we met up with Hot Rod or now Rodimus Prime as he has become the new Autobot leader, Kup, and everyone else who had helped defeat Unicron.

"Let this mark the end of the Cybertronian wars as we move forward to a new age of peace and happiness" Rodimus stated proudly and everyone chanted "Till all are one" I was watching further back with Elder who had put his hand on my shoulder and was smiling

"We have a new home don't we Elder?" she asked and Elder nodded "yes my dear but we will never forget our people either" he responded and I knew deep down I would never forget my home, but I had a new home and it was one I wouldn't let get taken from me as well. Despite there now being peace, I couldn't help but wonder whatever happened to the rest of the Decepticons and the Quintessons, but I knew it wasn't the last that any of us would see of them again, for every good in the universe, there must be an evil to balance it out.


	5. Five Faces of Darkness

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> S3 Five Faces of Darkness parts 1-5

**Location: ?, Galactic Olympics**

**Her POV:**

It was a warm day; it was also very loud. I was at my very first galactic Olympics, and I didn't know how to feel about it. Teams from all over the universe had come to participate and there were so many I didn't even recognize even with Amarr's knowledge. I was currently standing with Springer and Arcee watching the opening to the Olympics, we were in a small viewing area just off to the side where Rodimus was standing with Ultra Magnus greeting everyone who had come before saying let the games begin.

For the most part, the games were interesting enough, there were all types of sports, I even recognized one of the Autobots participating, Jazz I was pretty sure his name was had easily won. I cheered with the others for him before the next event started, I honestly though wished I had stayed in my med bay to finish setting it up, or gone to the lab where I would be helping Perceptor or even gone with Wheelie and Blurr instead on their mission to Autobot City. Which I still haven't had a chance to visit yet and I was quite curious about what Earth looked like and the humans, I got bored quickly though and told Arcee I was going for a walk which she just nodded at me.

I left the viewing area ignoring the looks Rodimus and Ultra Magnus gave me, I knew me leaving was odd as I was always curious and fascinated with new things however I just couldn't shake this feeling of trouble.

I leaned against the wall and took a deep breath when a sharp pain strikes me causing me to clutch my head, I could see a vision _it was smoky and there were lots of screaming and shadows of forms being taken away. I couldn't move my body to do anything it was as if I was watching a movie_ I then felt that familiar cold bucket feeling and I blinked as I was suddenly standing up staring at nothing which confused me because I was pretty sure I had leaned against the wall clutching my head.

I hurried back to the viewing area, this time Ultra Magnus and Rodimus were also there "you okay?" I was asked by Arcee and I gave her a grateful nod as I didn't trust my words. I was extremely concerned since visions were only shown before great trouble happens, Elder didn't have them except for the brief warning he had gotten when the Quintessons invaded our planet so for me to experience one had my whole frame tensing. I was thinking so much I wasn't paying attention when the torch exploded covering everything with smoke and ash making visibility virtually zero.

I heard Rodimus shoot at something but obviously he missed, there was screaming and I realized the vision was my early warning and I didn't say anything about it. I could see small shapes that looked oddly familiar and shot one but it didn't faze it very much, I backed up until I felt steel cold hands latch onto the arms, I whirled around frightened to see another one had grabbed me preventing me from escaping with the oh so familiar of Energon cuffs. I tried to kick the two sharkticons but a third one had come from behind and I felt a sharp pain across my head before it all went black.

* * *

**Location: ?, Quintessa**

When I awoke I wasn't alone, apparently, they had also grabbed Kup, Ultra Magnus, and Spike. I recognized the cell and immediately felt fear rise through me "I knew I should have just stayed and finished setting my lab up" I muttered standing up.

Yep, we were back on Quintessa, I looked at Kup and he had a familiar look on his face as well but also confusion, apparently, before I had woken up they had been questioning Kup about the Cybertronian security even though they seemed to already have the answers but they did work out that the earth security was still weakened. He probably recognized the place but wasn't sure where he recognized it from.

We didn't have to wait too long this time as the familiar footsteps opened the door and they escorted us out, strange enough a Quintesson had also come along to escort us. Spike started to talk about a sports game he had seen on TV but it seemed more like he was hinting at something, Kup picked up on it "rush em or die" Kup yelled suddenly and punched the closest guard, Ultra Magnus and Spike sprang into action as well.

I saw a guard about to grab Spike so I kicked it away and Spike thanked me, he then picked up a dropped blaster and as the Quintesson tried to flee he grabbed some of its tentacles holding it at gunpoint. We continue to walk as we entered the main 'courtroom' to confront our kidnappers.

However, it didn't go very smoothly, I looked down and realized when we entered we were standing right about where the pit was supposed to be and before I could say anything, they sentenced us and the Quintesson to death, the Quintesson agreed "open the pit" he commanded and I felt the floor vanish beneath me as we all landed in the pit of water.

I let spike stand on my hand so he didn't have to keep treading the oily water, the wall opened revealing the 3 Quintessons who were going to sit there and watch us get eaten. I honestly had no plans on getting eaten not after escaping last time. The Sharkticons started to swim towards us when Spike spoke

"Wait what are we being executed for?" he asked and it was a very good question,

"You and the female are guilty of associating with the Autobots, who are guilty of theft.

"We haven't stolen anything I think you have us mixed up with the Decepticons" Ultra Magnus pointed out but the Quintessons laughed

"You Autobots are the ones who inhabit Cybertron" they also pointed out which made me think, what relation did the Quintesson's have with Cybertron. We got ready to fight for our lives when a Skuxxoid ship flies through the sky, I had a feeling that it was the others coming to help us but the ship was immediately blown up by the new defense system and there was no one inside

"they are destroyed and along with them the matrix of leadership" one Quintesson chuckled and the others join in and I grew worried, there was no way they let themselves get blown up like that right?

I was glad I held my faith because sure enough Springer appeared along with Arcee, Grimlock and Rodimus "haha that tricked them" Arcee greeted and Rodimus helped pull me out, then Ultra Magnus and Arcee helped Kup and Spike.

Once we were out of the pit, Springer flew us up high enough and Grimlock drops down intending to squash them but they make an escape and Grimlock crushes their thrones instead. Springer drops us off on solid ground "what now though we don't have a ship" Kup mentioned

"I already called the Aerial bots for backup" Rodimus informed and as if beautifully timed, they arrive with an escape ship and even a suit for Spike. We quickly boarded and were just leaving the atmosphere when the planet started to explode, we almost cleared the explosion but a large debris chunk clipped us and crated a whole large enough that we were all sucked out of it. We were freefalling through space, thankfully Magnus mentions we should collide with a ship or planet easing some worries, but Rodimus laid back casually hands behind his head "hey just enjoy the ride" he comments cheerfully and I'm pretty sure I wasn't the only one shooting him 'are you serious' look.

* * *

**Location: ?, Goo**

After what felt like a millennium we spotted an object getting closer, it was a strange shape that didn't look solid. I thought we were going to crash right through it but we all landed with a thump and I realized it was very sticky goo. I managed to pull my hands free so I could stand up, apparently, everyone else was in the same situation. We tried to get our bearings but is hard when everything around you is nothing but goo. It just hit me where we were

"This is the planet of goo, near the Junkion planet. As far as it is known without a way to turn off the goo or an outside force field we can't escape but we can walk albeit slowly". I explained and everyone processed the information except Springer it seemed. Springer tries still to transform into his helicopter form but the goo holds strong so he gives up "well on the bright side, we might be stranded but it could be worse" Kup points out and I wished whoever came up with that phrase never invented it in the first place.

No sooner than a few klicks after he said that a giant machine that was sucking up goo and debris alike started to head towards us "you just had to say something Kup" Rodimus retorts as we watched the machine get closer, Springer tries to transform again in attempts to get us out but to no avail. The machine fires a strange light on Springer that seemed to lock him in place as it advanced right to him before it sucked him straight up along with other trash.

I was shocked and barely registered Arcee screaming in horror and Rodimus side comment of gross. The machine was now on a course for Rodimus and I was terrified, I wasn't sure why I felt more concern to Rodimus then Springer but now wasn't the time to dwell on feelings, the strange light activated on Rodimus yet he stood firm in place as the machine got closer, I started to yell move along with Arcee and Kup but Rodimus was blocking our voices out it seemed. The machine started to suck him up and I closed my optics not wanting to watch but I heard a churning and the sounds of it struggling so I opened my eyes to see that Rodimus was half up the goo and had shoved his hand and a large amount of goo right in the rotating blades effectively breaking the machine which crashed.

Rodimus dusted himself off as our Quintesson companion who I forgotten we had brought with us spoke up

"Autobots were never programmed to self-sacrifice" it stated in amazement and confusion which I got confused at its statement. First, they have a connection to Cybertron and now they know that Autobots were not originally programmed for self-sacrifice. What did all these pieces mean? I didn't get to think too much on it however as we had started moving in a direction to hopefully find a way to turn the goo off or a way to escape it, we didn't get far from the machine when an oh so familiar corkscrew ship approached and the doors opened releasing what looked like the entire Decepticon armada on us.

We tried to shoot back but it was extremely difficult due to the goo, however, it seemed lady luck was with us and the Decepticons were really awful shots, that didn't stop the Quintesson who Kup had been dragging cheering them on so Grimlock kindly slapped him so he was face down in the goo making him shut up. The Decepticons ceased fire and I realized Galvatron and his elite guard had shown up and started to shoot at them and us but the Decepticons had a brief exchange with their leader who turned to the corkscrew ship and flew to it along with his armada.

I guess he has more important issues than us, so we take the opportunity to slowly escape the situation. I spot a building and pointed it out as Rodimus and Ultra Magnus who were closest made it only a few short slow strides, they both entered the room leaving the rest of us waited outside watching the ship in case the Decepticons came back.

After a brief time, they both emerged and just in time because it seemed Galvatron had his talk with the Quintessons since the lucky shot that hit blew up the room sending Magnus and Rodimus forward but they didn't fall over, we started to defend ourselves the best we could while exposed but it seemed we might get actually crushed. I noticed that the goo was warming up and now was creeping up my waist and I realized I was sinking.

"Help I'm sinking!" I yelled, the others turned and then they also realized they were sinking as well. I closed my optics as I felt the goo absorb me completely for a few seconds before I felt myself pop free and I landed on cool metal. I stood up dusting myself off only to be greeted by Wreckgar and the Junkions and I never felt more relieved to see them in my life.

The others followed a minute after me each landing on their feet or backsides, I realized they also had sucked up the machine. I noticed it was quiet and realized the Quintesson wasn't with us, Wreckgar pointed out the hatch and I held back a laugh as it the Quintesson had been ejected and was left to float in space. We quickly left the planet of goo just as Galvatron blew it up in anger.

**Location: ?, Junkion**

Once we landed the Junkions emptied the ship and just the same way they put Ultra Magnus back together, they rebuilt Springer as if he was brand new. Once he was online again, I noticed Arcee seemed to be relieved and happy which I was going to ask about later. I noticed that Rodimus wasn't with everyone else so I walked off to the outskirt of the main circle and spotted him ways off siting on a junk pile in deep thought.

Springer and Arcee walked up to him and engaged in a conversation which got me curious so I also wandered over there. I stood next to Arcee as Rodimus spoke "the answers to why the Quintessons knew so much must be in the matrix... I know it" Rodimus stated pretty sold that the matrix had the answers we are all looking for "you could just almost get yourself killed again" Springer joked which made Arcee harshly nudge Springer

"don't do that, you did nearly die last time!" Arcee argues and I felt a great pain hearing that Rodimus had almost died and I would have never known about it but I latched onto the other bits of information. I didn't want Rodimus to have to do something risky like that to get the answers he would seek but if he did I wanted to be right by his side ready to bring him back. I brushed the thoughts off as my medic instincts kicking in finally and remained quiet.

"Geez I was kidding Arcee, he isn't a stupid as he lets on. Come on let's give the guy some space" Springer suggested and the two walked off leaving me and Rodimus alone. Once they were out of sight, Rodimus looks at me and I jump slightly he had such a strange look on his face I couldn't decipher. He got up and walked over to me till he was standing a few feet away looking down a me "you are a trained medic correct? You would be able to repair any damage?" he asked and I was baffled

"Yes, of course, I am" I responded, I felt a little offended he had to ask about my skills as well as confused about why he asked. "I am going to short circuit myself and go into the matrix, I need you here and bring me back as well as keep the others from freaking out" he states calmly and I felt my optics widen was he being serious! Short-circuiting yourself could lead to lasting damages that could take years to repair themselves

"Rodimus you can't! what if I can't bring you back and you pass oh god I couldn't handle that" I responded quite panicked at the idea that I didn't even register how personal my words were despite my spark feeling warm and my face flushed a bit at me saying them. Rodimus gently took me by the shoulders and I had to look up to meet his eyes "I got faith in your skills, I know you won't let me down" he reaffirmed and I hid my small blush and nodded firmly "alright Rodimus I'll do everything I can. Please be safe" I added at the end and he nodded and removed his hands off my shoulders before taking a couple of steps away as he opened his chest and pulled a wire short-circuit himself.

As he fell forward I reached out catching him and gently laid him down on his back, I activated my visor and noticed his life force was fading quickly, so I quickly set my visor to keep it monitored, afterward I gently grabbed his hand holding it to my face and prayed for him to come out of this alright before I got to work repairing the damage that was done to his systems.

Eventually, I heard footsteps and didn't need to turn around to know it was Springer and Arcee again, I didn't care I was growing worried the longer he was in the matrix the bigger chance I couldn't bring him back, I was currently trying to fix the faulty wire to prevent future short circuits since he had crudely pulled it out when I felt them both kneel on either side

"What happened?!" Springer demanded and I shook my head "I tried to stop him but he was so firm and ordered me to make sure he could come back. I couldn't disobey even though I tried" I quickly explained and continued to monitor his life force. I noted his life force was growing stronger and knew he was coming back online so "alright move back I got to do this carefully otherwise we could lose him for good" I commanded as I reconnected the damaged wire. It wasn't the best patch job but I did the best I could with minimal materials, they both backed off giving me the needed space.

I noticed that the wire started to spark and his life force was weakening, obviously, it couldn't do the job and he needs an energy transfer and asap but the only thing that could be done in time was if I connected my wire to where his faulty one should be and use my own energy supply to repower him which could be deadly to me. But I knew Rodimus was far more important than my life as I opened my own chest and unplugged my wire that connects me to my energy supply and connected it to the faulty one. I felt the drain immediately and sucked in a deep breath as I felt myself growing weak but my visor showed his life force going strong. I felt the darkness creep into my vision but I could feel the drain slow and knew I somehow did it, barely but I did it.

**No one's POV aka 3** **rd** **person:**

Rodimus came back online in time to see Sundancer hooked up to him before she disconnected and collapsed, he gently caught her resting her against him as he noticed the disapproving looks from Springer and Arcee. "I take back what I said he is stupid," Springer remarked before growing concerned for Sundancer

"Is she going to be okay?" and Arcee nodded "I'm no medical expert but she just overexerted herself, Rodimus has a much bigger energy supply then she does so it took most of her main energy and backup. She just needs some rest" Arcee answered and Rodimus stood up carrying Sundancer bridal style "she can rest on the way back to Cybertron, we have to get back there asap" Rodimus ordered but Springer stopped reaching to take Sundancer

"no you both need rest, we can go afterward" Springer tried to raise his concern but Rodimus kept a tight hold on Sundancer's body he couldn't understand why but he didn't want to let her go "no we leave now" Rodimus ordered and Springer and Arcee had no option but to follow their leader. The Junkions dropped them off at Cybertron, it was this time that Sundancer came back online a little exhausted but feeling better after recharging. She realized Rodimus was still holding her and let out a small yelp. Rodimus smiled at her before letting her get back on her feet, Sundancer face was flushed and she was obviously embarrassed but Rodimus laughed the situation off and just thanked her for saving his life

**Her POV:**

I was so embarrassed, when I had fallen into recharge I hadn't given my idea complete thought over and I just realized how inappropriate it was. But to wake up in his arms was even more embarrassing, it made me feel warm and safe but I brushed that off as my systems being a little frizzy due to the emergency recharge. But still, I just knew deep down it was my spark's feelings but I didn't want to acknowledge them since he was far more important to ever give time of day to a mere medic/scientist.

We met up with Kup and Preceptor "did wheelie and Blurr finish their mission yet?" I asked feeling guilty I had forgotten about the small youngling due to everything else going on and Preceptor shrugged his shoulders "haven't heard anything I'll check on them after this" Preceptor answered and I was pretty satisfied with that answer. We were interrupted by an SOS from a human shuttle requesting landing, Perceptor sensed something off though "it could be a trick" he warned but Kup's morals couldn't let a bunch of innocent lives perish so he granted them landing however everyone was frozen as it crashed into the Cybertron energy station thus knocking out the security system as well as throwing the room into darkness.

With the warning lights being the only light source, Rodimus ordered everyone to battle their stations. We run outside and almost straight into Galvatron and his goons "go on ahead ill catch up with you guys" Ultra Magnus ordered and Rodimus notes that his sacrifice wouldn't be forgotten, I wanted to stay to make sure I could tend to any injuries that Ultra Magus is definitely going to receive but Rodimus hurried me along saying I just get in the way. We fought off the attack and regrouped just outside the control room, when a Decepticon I didn't know landed looking panicked almost and exhausted, everyone all pulled out their blasters except me however as I knew he wasn't here to attack, that much was obvious.

I stepped passed Rodimus and Perceptor standing in front of the Decepticon "I don't think he is here to hurt us if he was he wouldn't have come alone" I reasoned and the others didn't relax but did lower their blasters. I noted that Rodimus was extremely tense but I thought that was him just being battle-ready, I gave the Decepticon a quick look over and deduced he just needed a recharge and some Energon to be good as new but kept that information to myself as I stepped back again in line with Arcee.

"The femme speaks the truth; I came here to warn you. The Quintessons have Galvatron tricked into thinking there is a Decepticon matrix so bad that he won't listen to any reasoning. But it doesn't exist instead they sent a team of Sharkticons into Cybertron to pull a switch which would freeze every transformer in the universe" he warned and Rodimus now seemed to lose a tiny bit of tension now that I wasn't so close to the Decepticon.

Rodimus nodded "alright we must stop those Sharkticons at all cost! Blitzwing, Spike and myself will go down to stop them the rest of you hold the fort here" Rodimus ordered but I knew that even with Spike to deactivate the switch even if it gets pulled wouldn't be enough plus they had no way to navigate Cybertron. "I should come with, I'm not much of a fighter yes but I've been studying Cybertron since I got here, I have a pretty good idea where this switch is located" I protested and Rodimus looked like he wanted to deny me however he did think it over before nodding although there was reluctance "alright you will guide us, good luck Autobots" Rodimus commanded and I transformed and lead the way out of the control room with Rodimus, Spike who was riding with Rodimus and Blitzwing following me.

I transformed outside a stairwell and began to walk down into the darkness, thankfully I used my visor to help me see where I was going. After a short walk which resulted in us going deep underground I deactivated my visor and pointed to a door that was partly opened "it should be right in there" I stated and we hurried and opened the door to see the Sharkticons about to pull the switch.

Rodimus and Blitzwing make quick work of the Sharkticons and I approached the switch "Alright now we need to destroy this switch before-" Rodimus was cut off by a Galvatron who had the worst timing and who also had noticed the switch "that must be the Decepticon matrix!" he stated gleefully but Rodimus tried to stop him "it isn't Galvatron your making a mistake, your matrix doesn't exist" Blitzwing also tried to reason with his leader but Galvatron told him to shut up and called him a traitor.

Galvatron stalked right up and I tried to stop him but he batted me aside again and I landed next to Rodimus who helped me up and went to lunge at Galvatron who had pulled a switch effectively freezing all of us and every other transformer most likely. I didn't know how long had passed but I suddenly was unfrozen along with everyone else; I looked at Spike who had somehow gotten Rodimus's massive gun and managed to blast the machine destroying it completely.

I looked around and noted the sudden appearance of the Quintessons and it was like everyone knew unanimously that it was their plan all along, they started to make their escape realizing their plan failed. This made Galvatron mad as he obviously hated being made a fool of "get back here you traitors!" Galvatron yelled chasing after them, we followed because we couldn't leave Galvatron alone in the depths of Cybertron.

We were too late as we rounded the corner to see Galvatron cursing at the shuttle the Quintesson's had just escaped in, Galvatron snapped so fast to us I'm surprised his head stayed on his shoulders; and he was still very angry. I noted he seemed unstable perhaps he had experienced a bad energon bath and it has damaged something in his processors but I didn't care in that moment.

He looked ready to attack Rodimus so I stood between the two of them hoping I could bring a raging Galvatron down peacefully "enough Galvatron it's over" I stated calmly trying to defuse the dangerous transformer but it seemed to be pointless as he only got enraged even more. He turned his gun on me and I tensed ready to move out of the way until I felt Rodimus grab my arm gently and tug me back behind him blocking me from the view of Galvatron, it seemed almost like he was being extremely protective "don't try it Galvatron" Rodimus spoke but there was an undertone of a threat which I couldn't identify the reason for.

Galvatron looks like he is ready to rumble when Blitzwing of all people pulled his gun out and pointed it at Galvatron "this has to end now Galvatron. No more fighting" Blitzwing tried to reason but Galvatron glared dangerously "you will never be welcomed back Blitzwing, never!" Galvatron yelled as he retreated through the roof and all the Decepticons most likely followed suit.

Rodimus then turned to face me and he wasn't happy I could tell "don't do something like that again, you can't handle Galvatron. Remember you're a medic/scientist, not a fighter" he reprimanded me and I could detect traces of concern in his voice which made my spark warm and the thought. I only nodded feeling slightly guilty at my rash action

"I just wanted to protect you, your life is much more important than mine. You're the leader of the Autobots. While I'm just an average medical scientist" I explained and Rodimus shook his head as if to disagree with me before gently taking my hands

"All life is equal, yours is just as important as mine. All life is important don't forget that" he told me and I just nodded starring at him with newfound deep admiration. Hearing a cough from Blitzwing, I quickly separated putting a normal distance between us and blushed embarrassed "we should get back" Rodimus stated and we exited the way Galvatron left.

One thing was sure, if this adventure was only the beginning, I couldn't wait to see how it ends.


	6. Dark Awakening

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dark Awakening Episode 'nough said

**Location: ?, Space**

**Her POV:**

It was only to be a simple mission and yet the Decepticons just had to ruin it all over again. The ship shook violently as I quickly grabbed onto the closest wall to prevent myself from falling over. Spike and Daniel were being protected by Arcee to keep them from being thrown around, Rodimus was behind Kup and Springer who were trying their best to shake the Decepticons off our tail and Ultra Magnus was also holding on for dear life it seemed, it would have seemed funny if we weren't about to be blown into tiny space pieces.

Finally, Ultra Magnus made his way to the controls using Springer's chair as support "We should try the bait and switch again" Ultra Magnus suggested, I didn't know why everyone protested against it.

"It means we blow up most of the ship leaving only the necessary parts for survival it's a high-risk maneuver" Arcee explained and I could understand the concern.

Getting fed up with the arguing I put my foot down "let's do it, otherwise we are all going to end up as tiny space pieces" I agreed with Ultra Magnus firmly and there were heavy sighs before they prepared for the old bait and escape trick.

We quickly sealed the control compartment making things a little tight but necessary as Kup activated the switch which detached our part from the rest of the ship, we put some serious distance between us as the rest of our ship had exploded and it seemed we were in the clear finally. I let out a sigh leaning on Arcee's shoulder who didn't seem to mind as there wasn't a lot of room. Spike and Daniel had hopped on the controls to make some extra room as we were all squished together, finally, Springer turned to us with a grim face

"It might have worked but the damages are severe, the air tanks were blown during the separation" Springer informed and we all knew what that would mean for our human companions. Daniel looked at us confused before turning to his dad who also had a grim face "What does that mean dad?" Daniel asked and Spike gave his son a grimace "It means we are going to run out of oxygen very soon" he told Daniel and Daniel had every right to be terrified.

I noticed Kup was staring intently at the working scanner just as he perked up "Hold up, I'm picking up readings of something out there and we will be able to make it in time before the air runs out" Kup added looking back at the scanners, there were sighs of relief and I could tell our human friends were relieved there was a chance "then let's go" Rodimus ordered and Kup steered the ship towards the object.

My mind wandered to Elder and Wheelie who had remained on Cybertron. I should probably visit Elder soon to make sure he is settling well into his new occupation after all with all the chaos going on we haven't really had a chance to just reconnect. I think he would like Wheelie as well so I should probably bring him with me to visit as well.

We had only been traveling for an hour or so, I could tell the human's oxygen was running dangerously low due to how Daniel had started having a hard time breathing while Spike looked pale when thankfully a large black rectangular object appeared in the distance. Kup sped the ship up more and it was then everyone except maybe Daniel knew what we were looking at and I knew immediately it was going to bring painful memories up for everyone even myself since I was apart of the medical team that had helped with putting the bodies and memorabilia inside it in the first place.

"What is that?" Daniel asked as we approached the mausoleum "that Daniel is where we rested the dead Autobots" Arcee explained "does that mean Optimus is in there?" he asked and everyone looked grim "Yep, and I hope I would never have had to see it again" Kup added as they the doors with a large Autobot signal on them opened and we landed.

Once Spike and Daniel were in their exo-suits, Kup opened the doorway and we all walked off the ship starring at the misty veil that separated us from the actual mausoleum, no one said anything as we stopped just short of passing through it, Daniel was looking scared, excited and confused so I decided to give him a little information "it's the veil of wisdom made to protect the resting chambers" I quoted and I could tell the others had agreed with what I said.

We slowly entered the veil until we were in a large room, there were 2 hallways branching out either side where every warrior had their own burial spot and in the center up high with over 400 steps was a large pedestal where Optimus prime's body was laid to rest. While the others were distracted, I noticed Daniel had slipped down one of the hallways so I decided to follow him to make sure he didn't get into trouble.

I followed him but I felt my spark being yanked and I turned to see two graves, I leaned forward to read the nameplates located on both graves 'Ratchet and Wheeljack'. I felt my spark warm and I couldn't understand why my spark had pulled me here to their graves, _I have never met them and only knew about their demise in Autobot City_. I was broken from my musings when I heard Daniel scream just a little further ahead, I hurried over to Daniel who had accidentally opened one of the coffins and the body was on him.

I quickly lifted it off him, he gave me a grateful look which I returned before I turned my back to put the body back in their resting place and had just closed the lid when Daniel screamed again. I whipped around and spotted a shadow quickly disappearing but it had been too dark to see who it was. I activated my visor but couldn't detect any heat signatures, I sighed and deactivated my visor before turning to Daniel who looked like he had seen a ghost.

"Daniel it's okay I checked there is nothing there" "but I saw him" Daniel tried to explain but was cut off by everyone else arriving, which I was immensely relieved to see. I could tell they were glad neither one of us was hurt.

"What happened?!" Arcee asked worried and I smiled reassuringly

"he scared himself is all" I explained but Daniel shook his head

"no, I know what I saw! I saw Optimus Prime!" Daniel yelled and everyone tensed, Rodimus knelt down to Daniel's level

"Daniel sometimes the shadows can play tricks on you" Rodimus tried to reassure the frightened child but Daniel got angry

"I know I saw him! Sundancer you did too!" Daniel yelled and I tensed at the looks the others gave me

"Daniel I don't what I saw but the dead can't walk. Its scientifically impossible" I stated firmly and Rodimus decided the best way to diffuse the situation was to check themselves.

"There is only one way to be sure" Rodimus stated standing up walking in a specific direction. The others seem to catch up to what he meant "you can't mean you're going to open his tomb!" Kup raised concerned as you do not disturb people's resting places under any circumstances but he wasn't going to listen obviously.

We re-entered the room that the veil led too and approached the pedestal where Optimus body should be resting. I stood the furthest back on the ledge next to the stairs while everyone stood close to the coffin, I didn't know their former leader and felt like I would be intruding even though I was also an Autobot. Slowly Rodimus opened it ignoring the protests of the others, I couldn't see but judging from everyone's expressions, Optimus's body was missing, I didn't dwell on that titbit of information since I felt the wind shift just behind the veil.

_There is no wind in space unless...!_ I cut that thought off and immediately activated my visor and spotted multiple body signatures on the other side closing in fast. Before I could shout a warning, Galvatron and his Decepticons rushed through the veil and started firing immediately. I pulled my blaster out and began returning fire as it seems everyone else snapped out of their shock and also began return fire while the humans took cover.

One of the shots hit just where I was still standing near the edge causing me to slip down the stairs roughly, I quickly rolled out of the way and behind some rubble that had come off the wall and started again returning fire cover as the other Autobots also took cover and started firing back again.

As I ducked avoiding some shots, Rodimus ducked next to me which had surprised me "are you okay?" he asked before poking up to fire but quickly ducked as the Decepticons got close to hitting where his head just was and it seemed they were not letting up on their onslaught anytime soon.

"I am fine, you should worry more about the Decepticons who are trying to kill us" I responded and ignored the warm fuzzy feeling I got whenever Rodimus showed concern for me. "I know, you just took a hard fall and wanted to make sure you were not injured" he responded and I smiled that he was worried about me, it made me feel warm "takes more than a slip to take me out" I stated back confidently and stood up and instantly shot one of the sweeps in the chest knocking him down. I suddenly felt myself getting yanked down as a blast just missed where my head just was.

I was breathing heavily at how close I came to being badly injured and turned to see Rodimus now really close to me and I guessed he had pulled me down by my arm which explained why I was essentially being in a secure embrace with just his one free arm and he still hadn't let go so I carefully shrugged it free and continued to fight the Decepticons however I knew we were losing ground quickly and we needed a miracle just to get out of this alive, I even prayed for a miracle.

Almost as if my prayers had been answered, a large shot came from the side and Optimus stood there in all his glory, he looked a little battle-worn but that was to be expected from someone who has been dead for a year; the Decepticons had now noticed they were outmatched retreated immediately.

This was our chance so I stood up with Rodimus as we shot at the retreating Decepticons, once they were gone did I finally relax although my mind was trying to wrap around how scientifically impossible it was to be brought back from the dead. I mean I myself knew it was possible and could probably do it with my knowledge but it required a precise set of tools and time and even then it was a tiny chance of even succeeding.

Everyone had come out from their cover and converged on Optimus even Rodimus who left my side to join the others. They started asking questions i.e. how could he be alive etc and Optimus seemed to fidget abnormally which no one else noticed apparently as he responded that didn't remember how everyone seemed really happy but me.

I knew resurrection was impossible unless it was someone with my high level of knowledge and there were very few people or even species who knew how to do so, everything was setting off a lot of alarm bells and I knew something was not right at all so I tensed ready to grab my blaster. I had never met Optimus but from everything I had learned and read about him and the deceased Autobots, he was acting off which was highly suspicious.

It was like he wasn't the real Optimus and that was when realization had hit me and I knew there was only one species out there who even had the slim chance of the technology to pull such a feat so hand went to my blaster and I started to draw it when Rodimus noticed me and my stance "Sundancer! What are you doing!" he yelled at me and everyone turned to look at me drawing my weapon and aiming it right at Optimus.

Everyone else was equally confused since I was usually against any fighting being a peaceful bot "he isn't Optimus; I feel it deep within me. This isn't the Optimus I heard about" I warned not letting my eyes move off Optimus who just stood there confirming my very suspicions but I kept that to myself for now. Optimus stepped forward towards me and I didn't lower my gun till he raised his hands in surrender which I scoffed at but didn't show it, I knew I would have to lower my weapon since he was being no direct threat so I did it albeit slowly and my eyes narrowed with a glare of distrust and slight anger. "I don't trust you" I stated and stalked off down one of the corridors not caring to look back at the concerned looks sent my way.

I started to cool off and realized I had found myself outside Ratchet and WheelJack's memorial coffins again, I gently laid my hand on each of them and thought deeply on how I felt such a strong connection to them both but the answer constantly eluded my processor.

I finally decided I wanted to learn more on the strange connection I had to them so I carefully removed their memory chips which had been preserved and stored them away in my subspace pocket, I looked at the next two memorial coffins where I felt a faint tug and grabbed their memory chips too barely glancing at the names when there was a rumble knocking me into the wall before an alarm rang which shouldn't have ever happened unless the mausoleum was unstable. I knew what I did was incredibly wrong but something told me I needed to preserve these chips no matter what.

I hurried back to the main room to see a ship taking off and everyone else shocked and a little beaten down "what happened!" I quickly asked watching their reactions of hurt, betrayal, and anger.

Before they looked at me and they seemed happy and relieved to see me "Hot Rod gave Optimus the matrix back just after you walked off and right after that he went nuts, he set this place on self-destruct and took the shuttle out of here" Ultra Magnus explained and I looked to the side guilty I hadn't been there to have stopped Optimus

"How did you know it wasn't him," Spike asked me suddenly and I looked them in the eyes directly

"I am a medic, I just have this ability to identify when a spark is damaged and his one was corrupted" I responded not wanting to go into too much further detail since I didn't want them knowing that I had the knowledge to resurrect someone since it was dangerous knowledge to even have.

Everyone seemed to have accepted my answer and quickly started to brainstorm how we were going to get out of here, it was when Daniel came up with the idea of a quick repair of our other shuttle using the spare pieces still remaining from Optimus when he built his ship. It was stupidly brilliant and it might have just saved our lives, guess the human child was more resourceful than just getting into trouble but I kept that thought to myself.

We quickly wielded the pieces so the ship would be flyable and have oxygen before quickly taking off, as we got further away I couldn't tear my eyes away from the Mausoleum as it started to burn up from the sun and I felt my spark cracking as all I could process was the thought of was that there would be nothing left of them and I finally managed to look away as the last of the Mausoleum burned away, I felt a deep sorrow and guilt.

I could have revived all of those departed Autobots, I had the knowledge and I'm sure I could have gotten what I would have needed but I knew that would be abusing Amarr's knowledge for selfish gain and so I swallowed down the guilt and pain of not saying anything and kept my eyes to the floor of the cramped shuttle. I knew the others noticed my behavior but I also knew no one was going to ask me why I was acting the way I was since compared to each other; they knew I hadn't been with them very long and they didn't know if I had known one of the deceased Autobots on the Mausoleum so they were just going to assume I did and leave me to 'mourn'.

How only half right they were but I was glad to be left alone to regain control over the guilt I was feeling.

**Location: Cybertron**

When we finally arrived back at Cybertron, it was deserted, that was a red flag since Cybertron was never left unguarded. It was then thankfully that Kup had spotted the Dinobots who were very surprised to see us as if they thought we were dead. After some pushing, Grimlock finally explained that Optimus had said we had all been offlined and then rounded up every Autobot into a fleet to attack the Quintesson's as revenge.

I immediately started to worry and panic for Wheelie since the little transformer had really taken a shining to me to the point I had started to mother him and my spark clenched painfully that something really bad could happen to him and if he thought I had offlined, he could be really angry and do something stupid to 'avenge' me. We quickly restocked our weapons and such as we reboarded a new ship with the Dinobots as the backup to help catch up with the Autobot fleet.

With the Dinobots directions we finally spotted the end of the Autobot fleet and boy there was a lot of ships, we were catching up and Hot Rod opened our comms trying to raise the main ship on comms to warn them of Optimus but it seemed they were not listening or ignoring us, so Kup steered the ship right through the middle of the fleet and I'm sure we gave more than a few shocks to the other ships as we approached the main ship and thankfully the doors opened and we landed inside, Blaster greeted us with obvious relief on his face as we hurried off guns loaded, it seemed everyone was happy to see that they had survived and I immediately searched for Wheelie out who was with Blurr.

Wheelie and Blurr must have noticed me at the same time since Blurr nudged Wheelie who ran straight to me. The small youngling quickly leaped into my arms hugging me as if I disappear and I returned it glad he was safe and that Blurr was looking after him before he hopped down, he didn't move from my side as Blurr joined to stand next to me as I was quickly updated on what had happened when Optimus had returned to Cybertron.

I turned to see the others must have received the same news and that Hot Rod was running towards the main control room and knew he was going to battle Optimus so I quickly gave chase along with the others but when we rounded the corner the door was locked and I knew that Hot Rod and Optimus were inside. I prayed that Hot Rod could disable Optimus and would be okay as we set to work on trying to get the door open.

We quickly started to melt the door down trying to get in with our blasters, it was tense few minutes when finally, the door fell down, we had rushed in to see Hot Rod was barely conscious against the wall and Optimus was nowhere in sight. I rushed to Hot Rod's side muttering how stupid he was and should have waited before I noticed he was back to being Rodimus so he must have gotten the matrix back.

I quickly checked him over using my visor double-checking to make sure he wasn't too badly damaged. When Rodimus came too, he thanked me with a small smile and started to get up so I quickly looped his arm over my shoulders and helped him up. Ultra Magnus and Springer quickly swapped places with me as Rodimus explained what had happened while we were trying to get inside,

"we are evacuating this ship Rodimus so we got to go" Ultra Magnus stated once Rodimus finished his explanation and they helped Rodimus back to the escape ships. I picked Wheelie up with Blurr on my heels as we boarded right behind Arcee, the humans, and Blaster.

It was then Optimus opened the speaker system which connected us to all the other ships. He ordered all Autobots to return to Cybertron and that it was his final order as the leader. We took off not once looking back until we were in the clear with the rest of the Autobot fleet at a safe distance from the main ship as it was on a crash course for a seemingly normal asteroid.

The moment the ship made contact it blew up and we all realized that he had detonated the Quintesson trap that could have easily wiped us all out. Every Autobot watched on mourning the loss of their leader once again, even myself felt my spark ache at the fact Optimus was gone once again. I really was positive this time that it was really Optimus in charge at his very end moments and so as Kup stated it would be his official resting place I saluted his farewell along with everyone else. It was sad and a long journey back to Cybertron but I thought back to the memory chips and was determined to discover my past with these Autobots. I would figure it out no matter what it took.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that is the end of Dark Awakening guys, I hope Sundancer acted normally. Like I said I didn't want her going all Mary Sue and being this big hero so I tried to keep her out of the way as much as possible. It would make sense for her to be suspicious of how Optimus acted, she is a medic with advanced knowledge of the time-space continuity so she would know of the only species capable of doing such a feat.


	7. The finest Things

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Custom Episode- a very old friend arrives and throws Sundancer's life into turmoil.

**Location: ?, Cybertron**

**Her POV**

The peace talks had lasted for a full week after the whole Daniel and Grimlock fiasco which resulted in them in going into another time and lots of magic apparently. The fallout caused the talks to be delayed plus no one seemed to want to agree on anything so it didn't help the time wasted. Everyone was hoping it be peaceful finally now that the ambassadors were finally starting to agree on day 6 however among the ambassadors was another female Autobot who seemed to want to join them on Cybertron. She made me very uneasy like I was walking on eggshells but apparently no one else had noticed or cared.

Everyone seemed to warm up to the new femme Autobot who's designation was apparently Recruit. I had many reserves about her because no matter how much I tried or how hard I just couldn't get a single read her spark and it was concerning since no one should have those types of defences. I sighed and turned away from where Recruit was talking to Springer, Arcee and Rodimus, I gave up trying to get a read on Recruit's spark and turned my focus on doing my part in the peace talks and so I shifted so that I was standing properly next to Elder who was also in attendance since we were the only survivors of our planet.

We were the guests representing our dead world and baren galaxy. Elder noticed my concerned look I had and gently nudged me "I wouldn't worry about her, she is new and adjusting. Just focus on the peace talks then we could go and get a drink together" Elder reassured me and I perked up a bit more pushing the concerns of Recruit aside in favour of thinking about how much fun it would be to finally spend some quality time with my creator.

I let my gaze wander around the room until I locked onto a familiar form with their back turned to me, it was someone I thought I would never see again in my life, someone I thought to be dead and I felt relief and excitement flow through me

"ACE!" I yelled, catching the attention of a few people including Rodimus and the other Autobots in attendance, but I didn't care about anyone else and I ran straight at Ace who had turned hearing his name and a massive smile broke across his face with relief as he dropped the glass he was holding and also ran to me.

We met halfway before I jumped into his arms and his arms wrapped around me as well as he lifted me up, spinning me in a small circle before letting me stand again but tightened his hug even more. I briefly heard sounds of aww and other whisperings but ignored them in favour of focusing on my dead friend

"Your alive! Omg Sundancer I thought they killed you along with the rest of the scientists!" he commented relieved and I felt slightly confused at those words, he knew I got taken with Elder but I didn't dwell on it I was just glad to have my best friend back, I let go of him as we turned to face Elder who had approached us, he had a happy but weary smile on his face. Ace was keeping one arm around my waist protectively as if I was going to disappear again as he held his hand out and shook Elder's hand who was still smilingly happy as well even if there was weariness hidden behind his smile

"I'm glad you survive son, but tell me I thought everyone died. How are you here?" Elder questioned and Ace smiled even more "you think us Guardians would go down that easily. We managed to evacuate at least a quarter of the people and we went underground. We have rebuilt since you both were taken from us, but we are ready to have you come home. Its why I am here actually" Ace answered and I felt my spark lurch. _Our people had survived! We could go home again and life would go back to normal!_

Apparently Rodimus decided he needed to be a part of the conversation so he walked over to us with Ultra Magnus and Spike in tow

"Sundancer, Elder everything okay?" Rodimus asked although I noticed how his eyes drifted to the way Ace held me and he seemed to blink and look like something was eating him up but it quickly vanished from his face and I assumed I had imagined it. Remembering the topic at hand, my face lit up and I was smiling happily to inform the Autobots about this miracle

"Oh its wonderful news Rodimus, some of my people survived. Ace came here to tell us and invite us back home" I explained and Rodimus looked a little taken back before he thought about something before nodding

"And do you want to go back home?" he asked and I giggled at the stupid question before correcting myself

"of course I do, but I have a duty here now so I must fulfil its first" I responded with a reassuring smile that I wasn't going to leave even if my world had survived. I had new duties and obligations here first, so I gently moved Ace's arm off my waist and took a step to the side so I was now closer to Rodimus and Spike

"I'm sorry Ace, but I and Elder can't leave yet we have so much we have left to do here" I gently explained.

Ace only blinked as he stared at Rodimus who was giving an equal stare back making confusion riddle with my processors but I brushed it off as men being men "Of course I understand Sundancer, I'll be staying here till the end of peace talks so if you change your mind just come find me" Ace responded flashing me his boyish smile I grew up with before politely making his goodbyes to the others and disappeared into the crowd, Elder raised an eyebrow before turning to me "you know Sundancer, he is a good person. I don't get why you always rejected him for your hand" Elder mentioned and I shook my head at those find memories back on Sestra

"He is just a good friend nothing more, I have other interests now anyways" I answered before realising what I actually let slip "I didn't mean it like that! I mean with my work on Cybertron!" I quickly added embarrassed as everyone had a small laugh at my expense while I huffed.

It was late and I wanted to try a new technique that could help save lives easier so I was walking to my med bay when I heard a clink of something being dropped or opened. I was confused, no one should be up at this time and this area was restricted to medical personnel and patients only and there are no schedule patients down this way anyways.

I decided to investigate just in case a Decepticon had somehow infiltrated Cybertron so I crept along the wall towards where I heard the noise and noticed the door to the medical security room was open and there was light shining out of it, I let out a sigh of relief it was just security doing a check-up most likely so I figured I say a quick hello before returning to my med bay. I entered the surveillance rooms to see Recruit messing with the computers that all the information about patients and the medical staff "Hey! What are you doing" I demanded since I knew she was not allowed in this section and it confirmed my suspicions that she shouldn't be trusted.

Recruit turned around a dark smile on her face and I gasped because it felt like I was looking into the face of someone purely evil, she suddenly threw a metal pipe at me which I dodged to the side then picked it up ready to give the new Autobot a piece of my mind and report her however the smile disappeared and a scared expression took on her face as she screamed for help and dropped to the floor in the foetal defensive position which confused me, there were footsteps as Blaster and Kup entered the room and were pretty confused, I mean the new transfer was cowering against the wall scared and I was just standing there with an equally surprised look on my face and metal bar.

Kup quickly took it away from me which I didn't care for except for the look Kup had given me which I myself felt concerned about while Blaster went to comfort the other female "I was just checking things out and she attacked me!" Recruit accused and I widened my optics in shock before I got angry that she was trying to lie

"I wouldn't, I hate fighting" I shot back defending myself but Kup sighed from next to me and I felt hurt because it was obvious that he didn't believe me and from the looks on Blaster's face he didn't believe me either "I am sure it was just a mix-up, Sundancer continue what you were doing we will take care of her" Kup ordered and all I could do was nod numbly as Blaster escorted Recruit out and Kup followed right afterwards leaving me alone with the feeling of intense anger building up at them and Recruit.

Next day didn't fare better for me, it just seemed wherever I went Recruit was there and kept causing trouble before blaming it on me. Eventually later that day I was pulled aside by Rodimus himself "Sundancer I don't know why you don't like Recruit but this must stop. Do you understand" Rodimus ordered me

"But I haven't done any of it! Recruit has been lying! She isn't trustworthy" I tried to explain my defence and my feelings but Rodimus wasn't even listening anymore, his attention was on Recruit who had just come around the corner and stood really close to Rodimus "I don't get what your issue with me is, but I'm sorry for whatever I've done" Recruit apologised but it was so obvious she was lying through her teeth and wasn't sorry at all.

All I could do was stare in disbelief and agape as Rodimus thanked Recruit for being the better person and that was the final straw for me. I wasn't going to take this accusing anymore, I thought the Autobots were better than this

"Forget this! I refuse to be blamed for all of this when I'm innocent!" I snapped and stormed away, I was so angry I didn't notice the concerned look Rodimus gave me or the evil glare I got from Recruit before I rounded the corner.

I only had one destination in mind to solve all of this pain and betrayal. I approached the guest quarters where the ambassadors/guests would be staying, if everyone was going to turn their backs on me so easily then I didn't want to help them anymore in their stupid war. In a fit of anger, I ripped off my Autobot insignia and let it drop to the floor blowing away with the artificial wind as I approached Ace's room.

I knocked sharply on the door slowly cooling off and wasn't surprised on how quickly he answered, he had a big smile on his face obviously happy to see me "I'm guessing you want to leave" he observed my missing symbol and I just nodded "I got nothing left here, they turned their backs on me and won't listen to my side then I don't want to help them. Turning your backs on someone without seeking the truth is not what I signed up for when I joined the Autobots" I explained and Ace gave me a sympathetic smile as he let me in while he gathered a few things. I didn't look around much as Ace had everything and wrapped his arm around my shoulders as we left his room and headed for the shuttle bay.

* * *

**Elder's POV**

I was going over my memories of Sestra using a memory viewer, I was 100% sure I had seen Ace trying to save us before we boarded the Quintessons ship I just wanted to confirm what I already knew. I re-watched the memory of when we were getting taken away and paused right after Sundancer had been put on board, sure enough, there was Ace with the guardians but they were getting gunned down by the Sharkticons.

This meant that Ace would have been offlined and that meant that the Ace here now was an imposter. I quickly rushed out of my quarters and hurried to Sundancer's med bay where she should be at this time but when I got there she wasn't there and nothing had been touched meaning she hadn't been there all day.

I then hurried to the main area where Autobots spent their downtime, I saw Arcee and Wheelie there talking and quickly rushed up to them "have you seen Sundancer?!" I asked frantically and they both shook their heads "Then she is in deep trouble, we must save her, she has been tricked by an imposter taking the form of her dead friend" I explained quite panicked, Arcee said we should contact the others but I knew there be little to no time

"No, we need to get a shuttle and leave now. They already have a lead and the longer we wait less chance of Sundancer remaining online" I disagreed and Arcee could see the desperation so she nodded and we headed to the shuttle bay. When we arrived I asked the guards if they had seen Sundancer and the guard told us that they had she had left about 2 hours ago with a male and I knew she was with Ace. We borrowed a ship and I took control since I was the only one who had the best chance of navigating the static storm and making it to Sestra in one piece and we took off after Sundancer and Ace's shuttle

**3** **rd** **Person POV**

Meanwhile, in the control room, Rodimus, Magnus and Kup were going over security since something had been messing with their surveillance. Kup was tinkering away at the systems when his eyes widen "you might want to see this!" he called and Rodimus and Ultra Magnus leaned over the chair to look at the screen, it was showing the first night of the peace talks and it seemed that Ace and Recruit were talking normally this wouldn't mean anything but Kup turned the audio on and it made all 3 tense up.

They were discussing their infiltration strategy, Recruit's job was to frame Sundancer to make her feel hated so she would rush to Ace and he would take her back to Sestra where they would finally complete Galvatron's master plan. Everyone in the room felt stupid they ever doubted Sundancer and Rodimus felt especially guilty for not listening and quickly ordered Recruit's arrest, however, Springer came in a few moments later saying she had already left, as well as Arcee, Wheelie and Elder had taken a ship in chase of Ace. Kup quickly patched them through an Elder who surprised them by driving answered

"Sorry Rodimus, I'm the only one who can get us through the static storm safely and we can't waste any time. Since my daughter is in the hands of the Decepticons" Elder basically commanded and Rodimus nodded "we will be on standby, good luck you 3 and bring her back" Rodimus wished and the comms were shut off. Now all they could do was hope that Arcee, Wheelie and Elder could save Sundancer before Galvatron exacted his master plan.

**Elder's POV**

It was a rough touch and go ride but we made it in once piece thanks to my knowledge of the storm that protected our galaxy. I landed the ship in a familiar and nostalgic place for me, it was in a thicket of trees and I explained that we were in the Rebirth forest. Its where a loved one took their departed love and laid them to rest and sometimes the forest would bring them back.

I led the way off the ship and through the forest, eventually, we reached the edge and ducked down behind some bushes as we observed the large gates that used to be open and had many workers come and go but now it was deserted, quite damaged and sealed shut. There were no guards but it didn't hurt to be too safe especially since it could make the difference for Sundancer "What now Elder?" Arcee asked me and I pulled out a key, I double-checked the coast was clear before walking over to the gate and just pushed the key right through the gates which made them open by themselves.

I turned to them with a knowing smile "Skeleton key, one of my first creations besides Sundancer of course" I explained and we snuck through the gate and was greeted with my destroyed city. Arcee and Wheelie were impressed by the sheer size but they could feel the sorrow I was radiating as we walked past dents where they both realised Sestraians had been brutally executed.

I lead them to the only semi-functional looking building, it used to be a manufacturing factory that would manufacture the special steel that protected our cities and ships. We looked around till Wheelie spotted Sundancer or her limp form anyways being carried along a conveyor by a metal claw "Look over here, she's up there!" Wheelie called to us, Arcee quickly shot the claw holding Sundancer's body which dropped her form to the floor but she didn't move.

We rushed to her side but she still made no response. I quickly checked her systems and knew immediately what was wrong with her "Why isn't Sun waking up why!" Wheelie asked worried for his mother figure, and my spark went out for the youngling but I had to focus on Sundancer's damaged form, meanwhile, Arcee had placed a hand comforting the small youngling

"They took her energy chip, without it she is in stasis with no way of us waking her up until we reinstall it" I stated standing up. Wheelie looked panicked when I stood up "We can't leave her body here!" Wheelie almost yelled concerned but I just smiled at him "don't worry, we are on my home planet I have some help" I reassured and pressed a button and 2 drones came out of the machines and carefully put Sundancer on a stretcher and carried her out of the factory

"I'll take her body back to the ship for repairs, you two need to track and retrieve her energy chip" I commanded and they nodded receiving the order before I followed the droids with Sundancer's body.

I was deep in my thoughts on the trek back to the ship _I would do my best to repair her form but unless they got her chip back Sundancer would be lost for good_. I shook off that thought and focused on the task of repairing my daughter's form.

**3** **rd** **person POV**

Arcee and Wheelie exited the factory but through the back door and walked around admiring the city before they spotted Cyclonus talking to Ace and Recruit, they ducked behind a wall and listened in "you two did an excellent job and Galvatron will reward you for it" Cyclonus informed the two traitors who both looked pleased "It was an honour helping the Decepticons, tell me why did you want that useless femme anyways?" Ace questioned and Cyclonus looked them up and down "we don't care about her, we needed her chip for Galvatron's master plan. That is all you needed to know" Cyclonus informed them before they split up.

Wheelie and Arcee followed Cyclonus who was walking to the outskirts of the city before he walked into a massive clearing as Arcee and Wheelie hid behind a destroyed wall, the clearing had a giant laser that was pointing up to the sky "so that is Galvatron's master plan, it's a giant weapon; I personally don't want to find out what it does..." Arcee trailed off before she figured it all out "They must be using her energy chip to help power it" Arcee added and Wheelie nodded.

"I can do it, if you can distract them I can get her chip back" Wheelie stated confidently but Arcee was concerned "are you sure?" she asked and Wheelie nodded "I'm small I'll be harder to see" he answered confidently so Arcee nodded agreeing to meet up at the ship before she darted to the side and disappeared into some trees.

There was suddenly an explosion and Galvatron sent some of his troops to investigate and no one was watching the laser, Wheelie knew he had a tiny window of opportunity so he took this chance to slip down to the machine, he looked over the controls but couldn't see her chip.

It wasn't till he spotted it glowing inside the main computer that he knew he had to blow it up but he then noticed that it had large cabling that went deep into the planet. Wheelie concluded they were using the planet's core to power the laser and if he blew it up it would destroy Sundancer and Elder's homeworld.

Wheelie jumped when he heard Elder's voice over his comm "Its alright Wheelie, she would understand" Elder reassured and that was all Wheelie needed so he ripped the control panel off before reaching in and grabbing Sundancer's energy chip, however, this was keeping the weapon stabilised so it started to spark catching everyone's attention, Wheelie quickly jumped to the side to get away from the dangerous sparks clutching Sundancer's energy chip tightly before he took off towards the ship.

"The weapon is self-destructing! Retreat!" Galvatron ordered as the Decepticons all retreated. Arcee caught up with Wheelie who was carrying the larger chip clutched to his chest, they ran back through the desolated city, when Arcee's foot crunched on something.

She stopped before bending down and picked up the small necklace, it was a stone of sorts and inside was a picture of what she assumed was the real Ace and Sundancer as younglings, Arcee knew it was a lucky chance that she even stepped on it but she was sure her friend would want it back; so she carefully scooped it up and stored it in her subspace pocket and quickly caught back up to Wheelie in the forest.

They quickly boarded, Arcee took over the controls while Elder was still working on Sundancer's body "get us out of here Arcee!" Elder ordered as Arcee activated the shuttle and they took off, Wheelie handed over Sundancer's chip as they began to ascend away from the planet that had started to crack and explode, Elder quickly reinstalled it into Sundancer and took back over main control while Arcee checked the navigation, leaving Wheelie to watch over Sundancer till she came back online.

The ship was rocked by a stray rock but for the most part, they escaped unscathed, as they managed to make it a safe distance away.

Elder slowed the ship down and just sat there staring as their homeworld looked like a planet of lava before it exploded and just ceased to exist. Elder put his hand over his chest, it was the symbol they gave whenever one of their people passes, he held it before turning his attention to getting them back through the static storm. Once through, Elder put the shuttle auto pilot on as he and Arcee joined Wheelie in the back where a small med bay was set up.

Sundancer laid motionless with no signs of waking up even though she had her energy chip back "Why isn't she waking up?" Wheelie asked and Elder shook his head "I did everything I could if there is more extensive damage I don't have the knowledge or equipment to do it on this ship" he responded and Arcee looked down "alright then we just get back to Cybertron, the medics there will bring her back" Arcee reassured both of them and they continued their seldom trip back home in silence, with the occasional story from Elder about some of the funny moments between Sundancer and Ace.

When they got close enough, Arcee asked for a med team to be on standby as they began their approach into Cybertronian air space.

**Location: ?, Cybertron**

When they landed, Rodimus, Kup, Springer and Ultra Magnus waited with the medical team, as soon as the ship doors opened they hurried on board with a bed and then quickly exited with Sundancer's unharmed but motionless body. The other 3 exited a little worse for wear but exhausted, Springer immediately was at Arcee's side and explained he was going to take her for a recharge leaving Elder and Wheelie to explain what happened, Rodimus eyes hadn't left Sundancer's body the moment she left the ship until the doors closed to the emergency med bay.

He turned to Elder with many questions "what happened?" he asked and Elder stroked his beard

"We got there, the planet was still battle-torn so we had to tread carefully. We found the melting facility and rescued Sundancer's body just as it was about to be melted down, after that I returned with her body to the ship to repair it while Wheelie and Arcee rescued her energy chip" Elder explained and Wheelie took over

"We looked around more than as we exited we spotted Cyclonus, Ace and Recruit they were talking about how to make sure Sundancer's body was completely melted and her energy chip which was used to stabilize their large weapon of sorts, we followed them and saw Galvatron and the whole shebang so Arcee set up a diversion with a few well-placed bombs while I snuck to the machine.

However, I realised if I took her chip the whole planet would blow up with the machine, but Elder said it was alright so I busted the machine and took the chip. We made a hasty getaway as the planet exploded" Wheelie finished and everyone felt bad for Elder but even more for Sundancer if she pulled through when they had to tell her.

It was late at night and Rodimus couldn't rest, he felt uneasy that they had heard nothing from the emergency team so he went to check himself since he was the leader they let him in although warily. They led him to where Sundancer laid in a room and said they did everything they had no idea why she wasn't waking up before the doctor made his rounds.

Rodimus approached the still body before sitting beside the berth, he felt bad for Sundancer after the way they treated her and then to have her chip stolen was hard enough. He wondered if the reason why she hadn't come back online was the same thing that happened when he short-circuited back on Junk, he knew it was not a practiced method of revival and none of the doctors would think to perform it but if it worked one time it should work again, so he carefully removed his wire and gently attacked it next to Sundancer's.

He allowed his energy to flow into Sundancer's dead circuit and slowly he saw her usual vibrant color more strongly as well as he noticed she had started to power up, Rodimus held her hand peering at her face as Sundancer optics slowly opened once they adjusted she turned to see Rodimus hooked to her and watching her, she immediately flushed

"Rodimus! I-" she started embarrassed but Rodimus detached and close his chest

"Sorry, I figured it worked on Junk with me that I should be able to return the favor" Rodimus explained rubbing his head and Sundancer smiled

"Thank you Hot Rod" she whispered and Rodimus eyes widened, no one called him Hot Rod anymore since he took command and it was out of respect so for someone to do so with a lot of care made him feel much better about where he was

"I am sorry about everything as well, we shouldn't have judged you so harshly. If we had used more common sense you wouldn't have been tricked" Rodimus apologized on behalf of everyone but Sundancer shook her head

"I was so angry, but I know it was miscommunication but I still ran off so I'm sorry as well" she apologized and they smiled at each other, neither minding how close they were until there was a yelp as the doctor rushed in asking a thousand questions to a bewildered Sundancer, Rodimus just chuckled and got up and as he was leaving called saying he would leave the rest to the doctor, who was confused but then turned back to Sundancer hassling her.


	8. Time only tells

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is another custom episode. It takes place a week after 'The Finest Things' during which Sundancer is not allowed on missions while recovering. This episode is called 'Time only tells' and takes heavy inspiration from the time portal episode. This will be a shot back to g1 which will finally explain Sundancer's connection to Ratchet and WheelJack

**Location: ?, Cybertron**

**Her POV**

_After the whole fiasco where I had been tricked, my homeworld being blown up and being very close to death, Rodimus had ordered me to stay off missions for a bit to properly recover, but I know he just doesn't want me getting kidnapped or offlined again anytime soon; it was kind of cute with how he was being overprotective if not a bit overwhelming. I didn't really mind, this time off from missions gave me time to research this underground room with ancient symbols with Perceptor, it was the same one that Grimlock and Daniel had their adventure in so we were being super careful not to step on the red circle disk or push too hard on any of the symbols since we really didn't want to end up somewhere in another dimension or something._

I snorted at the idea of ending up in a world where the transformers were fish, now that would something ridiculously stupid. I highly doubted a Galvatron fish would be very scary, I must have giggled out loud because Perceptor turned away from his work and gave me a confused look about what I had found funny

"I was just thinking if we accidentally activated the portal, we end up in a dimension where the transformers were fish. Can you imagine a scary Galvatron as a tiny goldfish?" I explained to Perceptor and was pleased he also chuckled at the idea

"Now that would be funny, although it has a high chance of improbability" Perceptor added and I rolled my eyes playfully before turning back to my work

We fell into a comfortable silence again; it was why I was glad to be Perceptor's assistant. He didn't make silences awkward and he was able to hold intellectual conversations with me whenever I wasn't thinking about little Galvatron fish, I giggled to myself again I was definitely going to use that one later to the others when they returned.

I focused back on intently observing the wall opposite of Perceptor, I was so into my work I hadn't realized Perceptor was calling me over till he yelled my name making me jump and drop my datapad I had been typing notes in on the ground. I shot him a glare which he ignored before gesturing me over, I turned to walk over to him not realizing that the datapad had bounced off a symbol at the bottom of the wall and pushed it in ever so slightly.

I was halfway across the room since I had to cross over the red circle when I noticed that the circle was glowing beneath my feet glowing, I let out a yelp as Perceptor turned to see what was the issue and froze seeing me starting to sink before bolting over dropping his own datapad in the process, grabbing at my hands trying to pull me out of the strong gravitational pull of the circle. He wasn't the strongest Autobot so he was struggling to even keep himself from falling in, he tensed before looking down at me with a smile and allowed himself to get yanked into the circle with me, I was confused on why Perceptor would do such a stupid and dangerous thing as getting stuck with me but before I could ask we had been engulfed by the circle before being blinded by a red light.

We both tumbled through the bright light before it cleared and I realized we were freefalling through the air and had couldn't hold back the small scream before landing roughly on some dirt. Somehow during the tumble, I had landed on top of Perceptor and quickly scrambled off only to fall onto my butt while apologizing furiously for the situation I had put us in and landing on him of course but he shook off before standing up and offering his hand to me which I took gratefully as he helped me up.

Perceptor didn't let go of my hand but I knew it was more of him making sure I didn't decide to do something stupid than anything to do with feelings, I didn't blame him either honestly because it seemed I got myself into all sorts of trouble all the time without even trying.

**Location: Earth?**

We both observed our new surroundings and it somehow reminded me of the pictures and stories I've seen and heard of Earth. I felt really excited since I hadn't had the chance to visit Earth yet and had very minimal interactions with humans i.e. Spike and his family, so I was excited to finally meet other humans and experience what this planet had to offer and what had charmed the Autobots into setting up the main base here.

"Hey Perceptor, doesn't this place remind you of Earth?" I asked since I knew that Perceptor had spent a great deal of time on Earth before relocating to Cybertron when we got it back from Unicron

"Yes indeed it does seem to be Earth" Perceptor responded before there was a rumbling sound along with the sounds of blasters.

"What was that?!" I asked slightly panicked since I was so not ready to fight in another alien battle if we got caught up in it but Perceptor seem to be thinking and not listening until realization had hit him and he turned to me

"Oh no, I know exactly where we are" Perceptor answered before looking me right in the eyes and I could see the concern in them,

"You must follow me closely okay. It's for both your safety and mine" Perceptor quickly explained and I nodded knowing he was being very serious.

We slowly walked towards the canyon edge where there was a large rock which would give us some cover but allowing us to look over the edge, two very familiar sides were firing at each other, there was a small energy planet between them a little off in the distance. I quickly spotted a familiar face that I had seen only sacrifice himself about a month or so ago and felt the shock and realization make my circuits start to overload trying to understand what I was seeing

"Wait that is Optimus don't tell me..." I trailed off as Perceptor nodded confirming my suspicions

"We have gone back in time, back to where Megatron and Optimus battled over earth's energy sources still and judging from who is there. I haven't joined them yet it seems" Perceptor explained,

I was only partly listening however as my eyes never left the battle below us. I was having the chance to witness something not many other transformers would ever see unless they were here themselves. I knew war and fighting over resources was bad but I was watching legends themselves and somehow that made me more excited than concerned about the battle raging just below us.

Both of us were so caught up in our own thoughts that we hadn't been paying attention to our surroundings and didn't notice Laserbeak had been observing us, I barely noted that Perceptor had turned away from the battle to check behind us, I did, however, notice how he became tense before his arms had wrapped around my waist and pulled me suddenly into his chest as a blast hit just where I was standing only 2 seconds ago.

I was frozen before turning to glare at Laserbeak who had almost turned me into scrap metal, Perceptor let me go as he took potshots at Laserbeak who dodged and shot at us again causing us to separate and dive to either side. I grunted from the harsh landing before also pulling my blaster out and shooting at Laserbeak who had quickly retreated down into the canyon, Perceptor hurried over to me before quickly helping me to my feet since we both knew that had now been exposed by Laserbeak and we quickly peaked back over the edge to see Laserbeak was with Soundwave who was talking to Megatron

"Laser Beak reports two unknown transformers on the cliff" Soundwave stated but obviously Megatron didn't care,

"Shoot them down, we have bigger fish to fry right now!" Megatron ordered as he engaged Optimus who had overheard everything.

We both noted how Optimus seemed to be using the comms before 2 Autobots were heading in our direction, I realized that Optimus must have sent them our way to help us or to figure out who we were; either way, they were still a bit far off so I knew they wouldn't be any help for another few minutes. I barely had time to spot Soundwave who was aiming right at us causing my optics to widen and I grabbed Perceptor's arm in a panic

"watch out!" I barely yelled before Soundwave shot at the cliff causing the ground to crumble beneath us, I barely saw the terrified look on Perceptor's face before I felt a large amount of pain and darkness.

**3rd person POV**

Ratchet and WheelJack arrived just as the last few little rocks settled on top of what was left of the cliff edge which had buried the two unknown transformers. Both of them had transformed before quickly getting to work trying to unearth the two transformers before they went offline. After only a short time, they finally unearthed a very familiar red transformer who they recognized as Perceptor, someone they hadn't seen since he left for an Energon scouting mission on the other side of the universe before Cybertron ran out of energy.

As Ratchet carefully removed Perceptor, Perceptor came back online before starting to panic and trying to escape Ratchet's hold to get back to the pile of rocks

"she is still under there; we have to get her out!" Perceptor ordered quickly with fear and urgency in his voice, he knew if Sundancer was damaged Rodimus wouldn't be too pleased with him and he had come to see her as a younger sister of sorts and didn't want anything to happen to her.

Only an idiot wouldn't be able to not see the obvious feelings between Rodimus and Sundancer and he felt his leader deserved to be happy for once but there was no way that would happen if Sundancer was to offline now, however, Ratchet stopped him "settle down Perceptor, WheelJack has got her" Ratchet reassured Perceptor even though Ratchet's own mind was reeling, _a femme transformer was still buried even though they were supposed to have gone extinct just before they fled Cybertron, perhaps Perceptor had found her before re-joining them here,_ was the only logical conclusion Ratchet's mind could come up with for this situation and if that was the case, he would do all he can to save the femme transformer and Perceptor.

Perceptor continued to watch tense with fear and concern all over his face while Ratchet kept a tight hold on the scientist to stop him from furthering injuring himself by trying to help while also being tense himself as he had no clue if the femme would still be online when they uncovered her although he was praying with his spark she was. It wasn't until Ratchet noticed that Perceptor had started to relax in his hold that he also slightly relaxed at the sight of WheelJack carefully extracting the femme from the rubble, if Wheeljack was surprised she was a femme he didn't show it.

**Her POV**

I felt the pain and pressure lifted off my sore form and I could feel my systems kicking back in and start trying to heal the damages I had sustained although I hadn't opened my optics yet. I felt two slightly cold arms scoop me up as I opened my optics and quickly adjusted to the bright blue sky above me, it was then I realized these arms were much sturdier then Perceptor's arms and felt panic building up as I was being carried by an unknown bot but I caught a glimpse of the red Autobot insignia and I relaxed if ever slightly since at least I hadn't been grabbed by a Decepticon.

I registered that Perceptor was being held by a white medic who I realized really familiar when I realized he looked a lot like the tomb for Ratchet, which meant that the medic must be Ratchet and the one holding me with the weird things on his face must be Wheeljack.

I felt my spark jump and I wondered if this whole time-traveling trip was supposed to happen and that I would finally understand my connection to these 2 bots. Perceptor was released and hurried over to me before removing me from WheelJack's arms and hugging me tightly which I returned happily that he was also okay. Ratchet must have transformed into his vehicle mode at some point because Perceptor carefully carried me over before helping me lay down on the small bed thing inside a large white ambulance before climbing in after me and the door closed on its own.

I barely noted that Ratchet had started moving as I was too focused on trying not to wince every time the ground became rocky and starring at Perceptor who was examining my external damages the best he could while not aggravating his own, slowly I felt the darkness creeping in and at the reassuring look Perceptor gave me I went into a light recharge confident that Perceptor would keep me safe.

I had awoken on a medical berth, I noted that Perceptor was on the berth next to me although sitting up and awake while Ratchet was showing him something, hearing my movement both turned to me and Ratchet hurried to my side helping me sit up gently before giving me a soft look. I realized I must be the first femme he has seen in a very long time and felt a little self-conscious since I blushed and looked away embarrassed, I heard Perceptor chuckle and shot him a glare which he waved off once again. Ratchet did a quick scan before giving me the all-clear and Perceptor had gotten up before walking over and helping me off the medical berth, I stumbled a little and Ratchet helped stabilize me as well and I shot both of them a grateful look before they backed off giving me my space.

I was immediately curious on the much older technology and started to ask many questions about it all, I knew Ratchet was surprised but he seemed quite happy to oblige and answered any questions I had although I guessed he was just happy he finally had someone to talk to who had a good grasp of what everything in the med bay was even if it was outdated compared to the stuff I worked with back home. Eventually, Wheeljack arrived as he was curious on our condition and was pleased me and Perceptor were okay with only a few dents and a bit dusty, I was curious on what Wheeljack did for the Autobots and roped him into my 100 questions I was asking, once again he was also surprised before the two began to fill me in on their own knowledge as we sat comfortably in the med bay.

Perceptor chimed in with his own input occasionally but for the most part sat back and watched how I easily made 2 new friends without even really trying, not that I really cared, both were very intelligent and I could myself soaking up everything they told me like a sponge locking it away for analysis later. I felt that my spark was really happy that I had made new friends before I felt a wave of sadness wash over me, both of these mechs were so intelligent and seemed to be good people and the fact that in the future they are going to be offlined made my spark ache but I ignored it for now since I didn't want to ruin the easily flowing conversation over something that won't happen for a while yet.

"So what were you two doing on the cliff?" WheelJack asked getting to the point finally,

Perceptor and I looked at each other conveying a silent message before Perceptor answered

"I think it's best we tell you all at once, so we should wait for Optimus to return" Perceptor responded and the other two seemed to accept that explanation.

Finally, after some more small talk, Optimus and the others all arrived so we got ready to go greet them. Perceptor, Ratchet and WheelJack went outside first to greet them while I hung back hiding behind Wheeljack and Ratchet who didn't make a move to stop me which I was thankful for, I was feeling a bit nervous around so many mechs which was stupid but in this time they hadn't seen a femme in so long so I had no clue how they would react. Optimus noticed Perceptor and was glad to see an old friend since he had a warm smile

"Perceptor its good to see you again" he greeted and Perceptor shook his hand

"likewise however we have something to tell you" Perceptor responded and it was then everyone else noticed another figure behind Ratchet and WheelJack

"you see I'm not the Perceptor who is still on his mission. I'm from the future, me and Sundancer were researching an old teleportation room when she accidentally activated it and we both fell in ending up on the cliff side where Ratchet and WheelJack found us. It is crucial we return back to our time for fears of us unravelling the timeline" Perceptor explained and Optimus nodded, even though it wasn't the Perceptor he had sent away long ago, it still was Perceptor just from the distant future

"very well, I'm assuming you and WheelJack will be making the necessary designs?" Optimus asked and Perceptor nodded "of course, with some help" Perceptor added and turned to me while I was still partly hidden behind Ratchet and Wheeljack

"Sundancer, it's alright they are all friends" Perceptor reassured me so I stepped out from behind my cover and walked over to Perceptor nervously. Optimus was mildly surprised at me but since we were from the future it shouldn't be a surprise that other female transformers were created later on, the other Autobots had no restrictions though and all made comments of disbelief, approval and shocked which had me tensing beside Perceptor who gently patted my arm and I relaxed if only a little.

"Hello Optimus, it is good to see you again, well we haven't met yet but we will in the distant future" I greeted and Optimus shook my hand gently while still smiling although it was now softer

"likewise Sundancer, I'm assuming you will be assisting WheelJack and Perceptor?" Optimus asked and I nodded in response before glancing over at Ratchet as another idea came to mind

"I would also like to request during my downtime if I could be Ratchet's assistant in repairs and such while we stay here" I also requested and Optimus looked a little surprised before looking over me to Ratchet who I guessed must have nodded in approval since Optimus nodded back

"very well, I shall approve of your request" he responded and I smiled and thanked him before turning to Ratchet with a big grin, Ratchet for the most part didn't react but had a small smile to me grinning at him. I had a feeling that our stay here wouldn't be all that bad after all, albeit a little strange but I will get used to it until we could go home.

2 days had passed uneventful and quite quickly, the Decepticons had been quiet so when I wasn't helping with the plans for a communication device to try and get in contact with our friends, I was helping upgrade Ratchet's medical equipment or showing him advance strategies that could be applied on the battlefield or in med bay which would prevent a lot of long term injuries and even being offlined.

However, I was growing bored of staying coped up in the Ark so I excused myself from Ratchet who only nodded at me before I wandered into the main area rec area where most Autobots who didn't have duties were relaxing looking for some form of entertainment. When I entered I was immediately roped towards Teletram 1 where apparently Spike had shown Hound, Jazz, Bumblebee and Mirage what a computer game was and they had been racing each other on the screen. I was quite fascinated as I stood next to Mirage who smiled at me warmly

"I am guessing you know all our names already?" Mirage asked me and I nodded feeling confident I had their names down pat

"yes your all memorised in my data banks, although compared to your history I learned you all act quite differently" I added on as an afterthought and Mirage chuckled.

"Hey, you don't go to earth often do you?" he asked and I shook my head in response as I still was focused on the game in front of us,

"no I've never visited earth before. My work is too important so I don't get a lot of time off" I stated not quite giving away where I worked in the future since Perceptor and I had agreed to keep the details minimal to prevent as much time damage as we could while stuck here. Mirage went quite before gaining my attention from the game again

"how bout I show you some sights, Earth is a pretty beautiful and peaceful place when the Decepticons are not attacking" he offered and I felt my excitement build up at the prospect of finally getting some much needed fresh ait plus I would get to explore earth too. It was a win-win for me in my eyes.

"Oh yes that would be wonderful" I responded excited and Mirage started to lead me towards the exit however Jazz who had overheard Mirage's idea stopped us,

"You should tell Optimus first and even then, we don't really want the Decepticons finding out about Sundancer and Perceptor time travelling" Jazz warned both of us before grinning

"but don't worry, he won't mind if I tag along as well" Jazz added and I grinned back in response as Jazz quickly sent a message to Prime explaining what their plans were and Optimus agreed as long as they do not go too far and stay in radio contact and be back within a few hours.

Mirage and Jazz transformed but I didn't as I remembered that my alt mode was not quite a human mode of transport

"What's wrong Sundancer?" Hound asked me as he approached us and I gave him a weary smile before responding

"It's just my alt mode isn't quite an earth vehicle" I explained and Hound seemed to be thinking before nodding at me

"transform, I think I got an idea to help you out" he stated and I did as he said and when I did I heard a few whistles making me mentally roll my eyes

My alt mode was a very advance Cybertronian bike that didn't exist and wouldn't for quite some time, Hound immediately saw my dilemma so he put a hologram over my form making me appear as a normal earth bike, I thanked him gratefully before Mirage revved his engine leading the way out of the Ark followed by Jazz and I.

For the most part our trip was uneventful, I found out that I got along great with both of them, I noted that Jazz seemed to be surprised on how Mirage was being so open and friendly with me and figured I would ask him about it later but for now I was going to enjoy the freedom I had.

I asked a few questions while we were driving, mainly just about the surrounding city and humans before we pulled off the main road and stopped under a bridge next to the river. We quietly transformed before sitting down with me in between them just starring at the water as the sun started to set, I let out a content sigh as I started to relax

"you guys were right; Earth is so beautiful. Even more beautiful than my home planet Sestra and my people, may they rest in peace" I stated but added the last part quietly to myself and closed my eyes not noticing the looks Jazz and Mirage shot at each other.

I didn't notice Mirage go invisible until I felt something cold and wet on my head making me yelp and jump up in surprise, I whirled around to glare at Jazz but he had his hands up in surrender so I knew it wasn't him, it was then I realised I couldn't see Mirage. I quickly looked around for the missing mech when I felt arms wrap around my waist around her making me squeal and tried to hit my attacker but I hit nothing but air much to my confusion. I heard some laughter as I looked behind me to see the source of it, it turned out to be just Mirage laughing as he reappeared behind me before letting me go as I jumped away glaring at him making Mirage suddenly bolt for his life, before I could give chase though I realised Jazz was also laughing so I turned my anger on him as he spoke

"she got you there" Jazz commented and I grinned before scooping up some water from the river before throwing it at Jazz. My aim was amazing as it hit him right in the face as he ceased laughing only to give me a playful grin and I knew I just started a brand new war as he grabbed some water himself and threw it at me which I dodged causing it hit Mirage who had been trying to sneak up on me, this resulted in Mirage retaliating and turned our little war into a small water fight. We continued to throw water at each other for a few minutes before collapsing back on the ground wet but extremely happy and relaxed,

"this has been so much fun..." I trailed off as I once again got the feeling of sadness wash over me, I knew that I would have to eventually return back to my own time but at the same time I didn't want to leave my new friends either. I knew once I did I wouldn't get to see most of them ever again and I didn't even know what happened to Mirage after the battle at Autobot City. I decided then that when I got back I would try and convince Rodimus to give me a mission to Earth so I could at least see the survivors again, I hope they would still remember me, it be awkward otherwise.

I noticed that Jazz and Mirage were looking at me concerned and I realised I must have been frowning so I quickly gave them smiles although they didn't buy it,

"what is wrong lil lady?" Jazz asked and I felt my spark weep a little but decided they deserved to know something at least even if I would get in trouble later for saying anything.

"I know saying this could affect everything but I couldn't handle the idea of something happening to you two. In 2005 there is going to be a big battle, lots of transformers are going to die and when it's all over, that battle would only appear minor compared to the great evil that is going to come." I explained softly not looking at either of them as I only starred at the water so I didn't see them tensing but I could detect it.

"Do we die...?" Mirage asked carefully, I looked up at them this time and shook my head, I swear I saw both of them relax a little

"no you two don't, but some do die. I just wanted to warn you of the great danger coming. Its bigger than even the Decepticons" I trailed off as I stood up before walking over to the river's edge knowing I had said too much, so I let my gaze return back to the water, this caused me to miss the sad looks Jazz and Mirage gave me and I knew they wanted to say something but I heard them tense instead. I turned around to see Jazz getting up quickly with Mirage following suit, I didn't know why they were getting up panicked until I heard Jazz

"watch out!' he yelled, I felt Mirage grab my arm and pull me back from the edge when it exploded thanks to Starscream's missiles. I let out a small shriek of surprise as I hit Mirage's chest before he transformed, I quickly got the hint and transformed as well as we took off back towards the direction of the Ark but taking a back road to avoid any humans getting in the way. However, we were intercepted by Megatron and Soundwave, both Mirage and Jazz transformed and tackled Megatron and Soundwave at the same time but I knew I couldn't transform to help without exposing myself; thankfully the boys had me covered apparently.

"Go Sundancer! Get out of here!" Jazz ordered me I didn't need to be told twice so I quickly took off through the gap they had made, however I had to slam on my brakes to stop myself from crashing into Starscream but it didn't work as Starscream managed to grab me by my front wheel immobilising me from escaping, I tried to rev my engine to push Starscream away but he held firm

"I got them Megatron!" Starscream announced and Megatron easily swatted Mirage and Jazz to the side making me wince as they landed harshly.

"Good job, Starscream. Now what were a couple of Autobots doing going on a stroll?" Megatron demanded at Mirage and Jazz and I felt fear rising up in me for them, yet they didn't say anything except for glare at Megatron. Obviously getting no response made Megatron extremely angry so he turned to me still stuck in my alt mode

"how about you, why don't you transform and introduce yourself to us" he asked with fake niceness but I knew it was disgustingly fake so I didn't make a move instead I was sending a sos with our cords to Perceptor knowing he would get help for us quickly. This pissed Megatron off since he turned back to Mirage and Jazz who were immobilised and pointed his weapon at them, I felt the fear grow more inside of me. I knew that if I didn't do something quickly my 2 new friends would be offlined in front of me and that terrified me to no end,

"if you don't transform and reveal yourself now I'll blow them into bits right now!" he yelled, I was frozen still knowing he was very serious about his threat but I couldn't risk my new friends not like this; it was not their time yet.

"Very well Megatron" I responded softly, I noted their surprise from my voice but didn't dwell on it as I got ready to reveal my identity, before I could transform though I caught Jazz and Mirage's optics as they were protesting saying they were not worth it. I could see fear for their lives, but also a strong protectiveness and fear for me. I knew then that I couldn't transform but I couldn't let them get offlined either, that was when an idea hit me as a familiar voice spoke over my comm. It was risky and would require me to wait till the last possible second but it was our best chance.

I waited as long as I felt I could and then started to transform however just before I completed it, Smokescreen had gunned into the scene trailing smoke everywhere which immediately obscured everyone in a thick black smoke, while also making it impossible to see my real form. Starscream must have been too surprised since his grip had loosened so I took the chance to turn around and punch him right in the face sending him flying back, I remembered my friends so I hurried over to there I remembered them. I knelt down next to them worried, but Jazz just touched my face reassuring me they were okay so I smiled back before helping them up just as Smokescreen had transformed and joined us

"we got to go Optimus and the others are waiting to provide backup" Smokescreen stated urgently and I thanked him as we all transformed and took off leaving the Decepticons in the smoke literally.

I looked back to see Megatron who had just escaped the smoke starring at us extremely angry before he ordered the Decepticons to give chase, that was enough incentive to speed up even more as I heard them take off after us while firing but luckily Decepticons are terrible shots it seemed.

Megatron spotted the rest of the cavalry so he ordered a hasty retreat. Once they were sure the Decepticons were gone, we transformed and were reunited with the rest of the Autobots. Perceptor, Ratchet and Wheeljack had hurried over and I was immediately scanned by Ratchet for any injuries despite me saying I had none and Mirage and Jazz were worse off. Ratchet gave me a non-believing look before resigning to do a proper check back at base before moving to check on the other two with Wheeljack following.

Perceptor was asking me if I was okay and if I had revealed anything but I brushed his concerns off saying Smokescreen made sure no one had seen my transformation, Perceptor wasn't pleased but satisfied with my response.

I re-joined Jazz and Mirage as Optimus gave them disapproving looks, I decided that they didn't deserve to take all the blame so I stepped in

"it was my fault Optimus I wanted to stop to see the water and they didn't want to leave me. If they hadn't stayed and disobeyed you, I might not be standing here" I explained quietly taking the blame while ignoring the surprised looks Jazz and mirage were giving me while Optimus was thinking over what I had said. He came to a conclusion before he nodded "very well, since no one was hurt I'll let you guys off the hook but no more trips; Perceptor and WheelJack have finalised the plans and ready to start building the communication device" Optimus stated firmly and I was relieved that we weren't in trouble before Optimus gave the order to transform and roll out.

It took another 3 days for the 3 of them to make a communication device strong enough to boost Teletram 1 so it could send a message to the future. WheelJack hooked it up and turned it on, we all held baited breaths as Perceptor tried to contact anyone from the main control room but alas all they got was static, leaving everyone including me disappointed.

Later that night, I was just watching Teletram 1 for any communications; I was really starting to miss Rodimus, Wheelie, Blurr and everyone else. I had started to think that they didn't even know we were missing until I heard footsteps approaching and turned to see Ratchet and WheelJack walking over, I waved to them not wanting to make too much noise since it was so late which they returned.

"What are you doing up so late Sundancer?" Ratchet asked me and all I could do was shrug

"Feeling homesick and I'm worried that they don't even know we are missing" I explained as I felt WheelJack placed a hand on my shoulder

"I'm sure they know, you're an unforgettable person Sundancer. But you should relax" WheelJack calmly reminded me and I relaxed underneath his hand before standing up with an idea forming.

"Could you two tell me what dancing is? I read it's a human tradition for socialising and making friends but I'm still a little confused" I asked, and didn't miss the way Ratchet had perked up with his own idea obviously forming from my question

"WheelJack knows how to dance, how about you show her" Ratchet teased and WheelJack tried to say no but I was getting excited that I would learn something new and it must have been showing on my face since Wheeljack sighed as he resigned himself to showing me how to dance before he held out his hand like a gentleman making me confused.

"Can I have this dance" WheelJack asked politely and I turned to see Ratchet smiling and nodding so I took his hand as WheelJack pulled me towards him as he placed my hand he grabbed on his shoulder before gently holding my other one. I was tense until I heard some soft earth music playing, I looked over to see that Ratchet had put some slow music on Teletram 1 and was watching us so I focused back on WheelJack as he started to lead me while I focused on his steps and movements. At some point Perceptor had come in to see where we had gone and stopped and I noticed he was smiling to himself as he also watched us, I felt so happy and joyful as Wheeljack glided me through the dance and I could tell he was also enjoying himself from the soft smile he also had.

Once the song ended and we separated, I kissed WheelJack on the cheek thanking him softly before WheelJack walked over to Ratchet only to push towards me, the next dance we did was more funny then sweet since I had decided I would take the lead making which meant Ratchet was being lead around by a femme smaller then him while he looked extremely embarrassed that only got worse from Perceptor and Wheeljack laughing behind us.

Eventually even Perceptor had a small dance with me as he fumbled around the steps leaving the room filled with music and soft laughter.

However, it was all cut off by a beep from Teletram 1 so WheelJack cut the music off as Perceptor started to fiddle with some dials and sure enough the static cleared and Kup's face appeared on the screen leaving me grinning as I hurried over to Teletram 1. Kup was surprised to see where we were but was obviously glad we were okay, I stood next to Perceptor as Kup started to talk

"Thank goodness I finally reached you two, everyone has gone into search and rescue mode. Rodimus almost launched an attack against the Decepticons thinking they captured you guys again, and the whole time you both have been on earth, I'll send a ship to Autobot city to pick you up" Kup explained but I quickly cut him off

"Don't bother with a ship, we are not on earth as you think we are Kup" I stated and he seemed confused since I knew he recognised the Ark

"why?" Kup asked concerned, I could tell from his voice he was starting to think we might have gone off the deep end which had started to make me feel nervous about how him and everyone else was going to react.

"We are not on earth, I mean we are but we accidently activated the portal in the teleportation room and we went back in time to 1996. See we are with the Autobots" I quickly explained gesturing to Ratchet and WheelJack who had stepped in view of the screen making Kup's eyes bug out almost and I thought he was going to glitch before he reorganized himself, meanwhile I could tell Ratchet and Wheeljack were trying to wrap their heads around the fact that Kup was still alive all this time. There were suddenly other familiar voices on the other end and Kup moved and surprisingly Rodimus, Ultra Magnus appeared on the screen and I felt my spark speed up at seeing Rodimus's face and felt myself starting to blush so I quickly looked away.

"Oh thank goodness you're both okay, what is this about time travelling?" Ultra Magnus stated and Perceptor quickly explained our situation since Rodimus was staring at me while I was avoiding eye contact to hide my blush until I finally calmed myself down enough to look at Rodimus who gave me a small smile as he nodded to Perceptor's explanation.

"Very well we will send the Aerial bots to pick you guys up, they should roughly arrive there in the morning; also the signal is getting weak so we shall see you guys soon" Rodimus explained and we said our temporary goodbyes as the signal turned back into static. I felt excitement building up that we would be finally going home before it hit me and I felt tears well in my eyes. We would be leaving them soon and I wouldn't see most of them ever again, Perceptor gently pulled me into a hug while I silently cried leaving Ratchet and Wheeljack confused on why I was so upset on leaving but remained silent until I had collected myself properly and gave them a smile which they returned happy to see I was no longer upset. I reached over and hugged them both making them tense briefly before they returned it knowing I somehow needed this comfort they gave.

The next day, we informed Optimus about the transmission last time and Optimus decided that the energy would attract Decepticons so they would act as our guard as we made our escape, for that I was thankful I had a chance to actually know what it was like to be under Optimus Prime's leadership, it was definitely different to Rodimus to say the least. Optimus ordered the Autobots to roll out for the cliff where we had first appeared, it wasn't a too long drive to get to the very familiar spot where me and Perceptor had first landed.

Everyone transformed and Optimus ordered a defensive guard around the general area of where the red circle should appear, hell even Hound was using his holograms to make it seem there was nothing here.

As we waited for the oh so familiar energy and red circle to appear, I noted that Mirage and Jazz were walking over to Perceptor, Wheeljack, Ratchet and me; they stopped a few feet away and seemed to be trying to find the right words to say but I smiled at them as I got closer before pulling both into a hug, which they quickly returned. Feeling sad I gave each of them a kiss on the cheek to show my thanks for everything they had done, making them both get really embarrassed judging from the snickers behind them and their slightly red faces but neither of them pulled away.

"You don't have to say anything, I already know. I really am thankful for risking your lives to protect me" I stated and they both seemed sheepish

"No worries lil, lady just doing our job" Jazz responded while Mirage nodded agreeing before they returned to their post and I re-joined the other 3.

"So you're really leaving huh Sundancer?" Ratchet stated when I re-joined them and I just nodded feeling all my emotions starting to boil up,

I wasn't even sure if I was happy to go home or sad because I will be losing 2 friends once I leave. I felt the guilt building up on top of everything for being selfish for wanting to tell them they are going to die, wanting them to come with us just so they would live and just not ready to say goodbye even though I knew I had too. I remembered that I will always have these special memories and their hologram memories which I had hidden away in my desk to remind me of them and that was the only thing that was holding myself together. Besides it isn't good bye forever, it was just a temporary goodbye till I joined them in the matrix. Swallowing the guilt and my own emotions I gave them both a reassuring smile,

"yes, I'm going to miss you guys the most though, we most likely won't meet again but you guys will always hold a special place in my heart" I responded and before I lost my cool I hugged both of them and also gave them a kiss on the cheek, I could Tell Jazz and Mirage knew what I had meant in my words but neither of them said anything knowing it wasn't their place too but they still felt bad that they would lose friends in the future.

Suddenly there was the strong presence of a strange energy as the sky opened and a blood red circle appeared, 5 planes flew down before transforming in front of the Transformers.

"Oh damn its Optimus Prime" Sky Dive commented surprised as the other aerialbots had similar reactions before they quickly got over it and Silverbolt turned to Perceptor and I

"we should get you two back now, you have a lot to explain to the big boss before he really loses himself" Silverbolt stated hiding the fact that Rodimus leads them in the future,

Perceptor nodded and moved to stand on the red circle which was now on the floor, the Aerial bots followed after a quick goodbye. I stood there before turning to my friends, I swallowed all my emotions and the need to tell them about what would happen in the future but I couldn't. It was too selfish so I just waved one more time to them before moving to stand next to Air Raid and Slingshot as the circle began to rise. We were only halfway up when Silverbolt spotted the Decepticons in the distance

"take cover!" Optimus commanded from somewhere below us obviously also spotting them as the Decepticons opened fire on us and the Autobots on the ground. We returned fire even though we were really exposed on the red circle, during everything I didn't notice the shot that had hit my foot causing me to lose my balance and to fall over the edge while I let out a yelp of pain;

"oh shit Sundancer!" Air Raid yelled spotting me fall over the edge as he also jumped off after me and quickly caught me in his arms saving me from going splat on the ground below. As Air Raid flew us back up I heard Slingshot getting angry now that they had actually hit one of his friends

"You Deceptcrepts get lost" he yelled and shot Starscream who was apparently the one who shot my foot and actually hit him resulting in Starscream getting knocked out of the air just as Air Raid and I managed to get back on the platform. We felt the blinding light as we reached the end and I had to close my eyes because it was too bright before it was a lot darker again, when I re-opened my eyes again we were back in the transportation room where Rodimus, Magnus, Kup, Blaster, a couple of his minibots and Spike were waiting for us.

Air Raid still held me since I had injured my foot and it would require getting checked out, I thanked him quietly for catching me before I was handed over to Blaster who carried me off to the med bay leaving Perceptor behind to explain everything that had happened. I only had slight damage to my circuits which was an easy patch job and was given the all clear but I had to stay off it for the next 24 hours or so as much as possible so I limped my way back down to my own small med bay/office and sat down with a sigh before opening my draws and pulled out two small discs.

Both were Ratchet and WheelJack's hologram memories and I felt my spark clench painfully now that everything was so clear to me, why they were so dear to me and I already missed them. There was a knock, so I quickly put the discs away as Perceptor entered and took one look at me and knew I was hurting. He walked over slowly and gently placed a data pad in front of me before hugging me

"I know your hurting but I need you to do something, I need you to go to the Ark and drop off this tablet to the team there. It's an upgrade for Teletram 1. But only when your foot is healed" Perceptor explained and I felt my eyes light up at the chance to go back and just see if Jazz and Mirage were still there.

Perceptor let me go and I felt happiness override the sadness, there was a chance I could see Mirage and Jazz again I would rest for now but definitely was planning to head out later tomorrow to see them. I turned to Perceptor who looked relieved I was no longer so upset

"thank you, Perceptor. I will head out late tomorrow" I responded and Perceptor nodded

"do you need some help back to your quarters?" he offered but I shook my head at the offer, I already had plans tonight. Perceptor didn't say anything else but a quiet goodbye before he was gone, I let out a sigh and pulled the holograms back out and set them on my desk before resting my head on my arms just starring at them until I felt the lull of recharge take over my body and I was out like a light.

**3rd person POV**

When Perceptor left her office quietly he spotted Rodimus who was leaning on wall just outside, Perceptor nodded in respect to his leader

"I'm guessing she took it?" Rodimus asked and Perceptor nodded again in response

"I know it won't bring the other 2 back but maybe seeing Mirage and Jazz will give her the much needed closure she needs" Perceptor stated before bidding his leader a goodnight and disappearing down the hallway leaving Rodimus to his thoughts.

Rodimus looked at Sundancer's door before shaking his head and going in the opposite direction that Perceptor went, he needed some recharge. After all he hadn't had any decent recharge since they both went missing and he felt that finally he could sleep easy knowing they were both safe, especially the small femme that had quickly wormed her way into his spark despite him not wanting to acknowledge it.


	9. Fight or Flee

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sundancer meets a mech like her and finds herself thinking about Elder and home.

**Location: ?, Cybertron**

**Her POV**

I had just entered the control room carrying some data pads that Kup had requested when I heard a familiar beeping sound, I barely noticed which Aerial bot was talking but I did pick up on "distress signal" and "ship" so I quickly dropped the data pads next to Kup who smiled at me gratefully.

"Blurr, Springer rescue it but be careful it may be a trap" Rodimus ordered and both ran past me but I didn't mind, I approached Kup and Rodimus who were talking, Rodimus noticed me and smiled

"Sundancer, be ready to apply any medical assistance the ship's crew may need" Rodimus ordered and I nodded before I also ran out the door to go get my medical kit I would need to repair any damages the crew may have suffered.

I approached the landing area where Springer and Blurr had helped land the ship, the door opened and it revealed a small orange Autobot. He seemed a little shaky on his legs so I quickly hurried up the ramp and helped him down before making him sit on the ground as I activated my visor and started to run quick scans. I could tell Blurr and Springer were standing guard but one look and I could tell this orange Autobot wouldn't hurt me

"What is your designation?" I asked softly and he looked at me surprised since I could tell he was nervous about the slight hostilities Blurr and Springer were giving off

"it's Sandstorm" he replied quietly and I gave him a comforting smile and was relieved he started to relax with me

"well my name is Sundancer, and I'm happy to give you a clean bill of health. You're a little low on Energon so I will go get you some okay." I responded and he nodded before I heard a cough and turned to see Springer giving me the signal to hurry up so they could take him to be questioned.

Sighing I stood up closing my small medkit, I noticed the scared look Sandstorm had so I gave him a reassuring smile "hey it's going to be okay, Springer and Blurr won't hurt you they just want to ask some questions. If you want once I get you some Energon I'll stay with you okay?" I reassured and Sandstorm seemed to accept my proposal because he got up and with a nod walked over to Springer and Blurr who escorted him away to be questioned.

Once I got the Energon I walked back over to where I knew the questioning would take place, I knocked before entering and spotted Sandstorm sitting on a chair with a lie detector hooked up, he seemed relieved to see me as Kup, Rodimus, Springer, Blurr and Magnus also noticed my presence but didn't say anything so I hung in the back of the room and waited till they were done.

Kup was holding a map and seemed to be getting a little frustrated "Dang it, there is no planet called Paradron, tell us the truth" Kup stated and the name felt very familiar but I filed it away to think about later

"I promise you I'm not lying" Sandstorm reaffirmed obviously whatever he had told them, I could hear the beeps but even from here I could tell it was showing that he was telling the truth.

"I don't know how to tell you this Kup, but the detector says he is not lying" Ultra Magnus stated confirming what I had already guessed,

"let's hear the story from the beginning" Rodimus finally stated moving from where he had been leaning on the bench and stood next to Magnus in front of Sandstorm, I caught Sandstorm eyes and nodded slightly saying it was okay before he took a deep breath and began to explain his story.

I didn't really listen until Sandstorm mentioned a vortex and it was why the planet wasn't on any of our star charts, that is when it hit me I remembered reading something about a vortex that was like a portal of sorts that lead to an unknown but rich resourceful planet. I walked over as the others turned to notice me as I handed Sandstorm the energon cube I had retrieved

"I believe him; I am pretty sure I read something like how he described back on Sestra" I merely stated and I could tell the others were now also curious about Sandstorm and the vortex

"you just got my interest" Rodimus added on when I quickly moved to the side as Blurr got in Sandstorm's face talking rapidly.

"why didn't you tell us there were Decepticons! " Blurr rapidly said and I had to hold back my giggle at Sandstorm's concerned face for Blurr

"is there something wrong with his timing program?" Sandstorm asked and I had to turn away as I let out a small laugh as Kup slung an arm around Blurr

"that is just the way he is" Kup reassured while I managed to get my giggles under control again.

"Sandstorm we will have a real nice welcoming party for you later, right now we got to put together a strike force" Rodimus commanded and I helped removed the lie detector as Sandstorm stood up, we exited the questioning room and headed towards the controls for shuttle launch, Sandstorm despite being cleared of suspicion stuck close to me which I didn't mind since he was my patient so I would look after him until this whole mess was sorted out.

When we reached the shuttle control booth, Blurr once again was going off on a tangent of concerns while moving rapidly in front of us

"we got a big problem! The Decepticons know that Sandstorm escaped therefore we can hypothesise he came to us for help so they would be making preparations and therefore making us be walking into a virtual trap! And where does that get us? Dead! That's where" Blurr had finally ran out of steam and I pulled him back so he could cool off as Rodimus turned to us

"don't worry I've got it handled" Rodimus assured and I smiled at how easily Rodimus was handling this whole leadership thing.

I was along one of the few Autobots who would be a part of the attack force, well kind of anyways. I was just along to ensure I could help any of the injured, we were hiding out on the planet's second moon while the decoy ship came from the first moon. There was a big flash as both the decoy ship and moon were obliterated and I was very thankful for Rodimus plan of sneaking onto the planet

"the decoy ship worked perfectly" Ultra Magnus commented next to me and I couldn't agree more

"let's pat ourselves on the back later; Springer, Sandstorm, SkyLinx and Sundancer help evacuate the Autobots. Ultra Magnus, Blurr and Wheelie try and gain control of the energon supply through any means necessary" Rodimus ordered and I felt a small fear shoot through my spark since Wheelie would be doing something dangerous but he must have sensed my distress since he turned just slightly so I could see his face and he smiled and I felt better and feeling confident Wheelie could handle this, plus Blurr would make sure the little guy would be okay.

"any questions? No good" Rodimus added before he gave the signal and we all took off in different directions towards the planet, I made sure to stick with my group as we approached the planet's surface. When we landed, I stumbled a little but Sandstorm helped stabilize me and I thanked him quietly, it was then I realised that Rodimus was also coming along and was giving Sandstorm a look I could quite work out before he gestured to us to follow him.

We crept between the building avoiding the Decepticon patrols, Sandstorm was giving directions to us quietly while Rodimus lead the way, we had been creeping around for about 5 minutes when Rodimus made us take cover before pointing out a large building that had a large glass guard tower and high fences; oh yeah this was definitely where they were keeping the Autobots prisoner.

"move on my signal" Rodimus ordered as we pulled out our blasters ready to make a run for it, Rodimus was waiting for the moment the guard was looking away before rushing forward

"now!" was the only warning we had as we ran forward, Rodimus, Springer and Sandstorm leading the charge while I hung back for cover fire along with SkyLinx.

Thankfully the boys were good shots and took out the gate, the guard tower and the two Decepticons who were guarding the prison doors; Rodimus shot at the lock and the door opened and I immediately went into medic mode when it revealed some injured Autobots. The Paradron people seemed scared until I spotted a femme and her sparkling so I slowly walked around the others and approached the femme and sparkling slowly.

The Paradron's must have realised I was a medic because they let me past and I knelt down next to the femme and gave the small sparkling a check over, thankfully the little guy was just malnourished and I gave the femme some energon from my emergency supply to give to him and she smiled gratefully at me. I stood back up as another Paradron gestured me over to an injured mech who was holding his knee, so I quickly hurried over and got to work repairing what I could; while I was doing this my friends were trying to convince the Paradron's to fight with us.

"It's time we fought for what we believe in! Our freedom, our planet, our lives" Sandstorm stated as Rodimus also stepped forward

"we are in a hurry give them the weapons" Rodimus ordered and SkyLinx turned around before unloading his cargo which was a bunch of spare weapons, I felt the mech tense under my hands and I smiled softly at him as I finished repairing his knee

"it will be okay, don't worry we are here to help" I whispered before joining Rodimus and the others seeing as there was not much more I could do with limited supplies.

A Paradron stepped forward

"we don't believe in fighting, you know what the ancients taught us Sandstorm, fighting only creates more fighting" he stated but Sandstorm was not budging instead he had crossed his arms

"the Decepticons are using our energon to destroy. Believe me our forefathers would take up arms and fight" Sandstorm retaliated just as there was the sounds of rockets being launched close by as they hit the ground just behind Rodimus making me yelp a little.

"We don't have time for this, it's either fight or flee!" Rodimus yelled and the Paradron slowly bent down and picked a weapon up, this resulted in the others also grabbing a weapon; I could tell Rodimus was pleased at the choice they made to fight for their planet. We immediately took cover as some of the Decepticons started to return fire, we still had to protect the Paradrons since they were not soldiers even if they had taken up arms to defend their planet. I made sure that the injured Paradrons were not in harm's way before returning cover fire, I spotted Rodimus and Sandstorm so I quickly rushed crossed the battlefield barely diving under cover as a blast almost hit me, I felt arms catch me and I looked up to see Rodimus not happy about what I did but he said nothing as I got back on my feet. Rodimus opened up the comm in his arm and I realised it must be Ultra Magnus's team reporting in

"Ultra Magnus, you called? Go ahead" Rodimus responded and I could hear gunfire in the background of the comm

"we are taking heavy fire, we must abort the mission" Ultra Magnus reported and I felt my spark clench in fear, I quickly opened a private comm to Wheelie

"Wheelie are you okay?" I asked concerned and I heard him hum

"I am okay, focus on the mission alright. See you soon" Wheelie responded and I quickly closed the comm so he wouldn't be distracted.

"No Ultra Magnus, change in mission. We are blowing the planet's energon core" Rodimus ordered and I was confused before Sandstorm clenched his fist

"that would destroy the entire planet!" Sandstorm responded not happy at the idea, Rodimus only nodded slightly

"I know Sandstorm, but if the Decepticons get this planet every other planet in this universe is vulnerable" Rodimus explained and I felt sympathetic to Sandstorm, he was in the same situation as I was when Wheelie had to blow up my home planet to save my life, I decided I would talk to him privately after all this was over so he knew he had someone he could talk to.

We had managed to fend of the Decepticons and make our way to where the shuttles would be waiting to get us off the planet, I caught up to Springer as he was telling Sandstorm it was time to evacuate. Before I could raise concerns about the lack of space on our spare ship Sandstorm already had a plan; he told us they had escape ships in case of an emergency ready so I helped assist him with loading all the Paradron's aboard each of the escape shuttles.

The shuttles auto pilot would be set to Cybertron where they would be welcome to live with us, while I was doing that, Magnus, Blurr and Wheelie had regrouped with us and I was relived but focused on evacuating the citizens. Once we were both sure everyone had evacuated we regrouped with the other Autobots,

"the planet is evacuated Rodimus" I reported and he nodded

"excellent, now we can safely blow the core up. Sandstorm you know the way correct/" Rodimus asked and Sandstorm nodded

"alright you and Ultra Magnus plant the bomb and get the heck out of there, the rest of us will regroup on the moon and be on standby" Rodimus ordered, Ultra Magnus and Sandstorm nodded as Springer carefully handed them a small bag of sorts which held the bomb in it.

Before Sandstorm left as everyone else were boarding the ship, I quickly hurried over to him and gave him a hug

"be careful please, I don't want my patients hurting themselves more" I whispered before pulling away, I could have sworn he blushed a little before he smiled and told me he would be before they both transformed and took off back into the destroyed smoking city. I felt a small hand pulling on my leg, I looked to see Wheelie and gave him a smile before picking him up and running over to the ship and boarding; as we took off I felt nervous for Magnus and Sandstorm but both were capable mechs so I calmed myself with the knowledge that they would be able to handle themselves and come back unharmed if not well I would be waiting to patch them up.

We waited on the planet's second moon with a few other Paradrons who had wanted to see their planet's destruction searching for any sign of Magnus and Sandstorm, I finally spotted them as they quickly landed their small escape ship nearby and joined us watching the planet.

As Rodimus started to count down I stood next to Sandstorm and gently grabbed his hand, he looked at me confused but I didn't look at him I just kept my gaze on the planet but I did give his hand a light squeeze; there was silence as Rodimus reached 0 before a large boom was heard as the planet started to break up before exploding into a bright glowing light. It would have been a picture-perfect sight if it wasn't such a sad moment, I tore my gaze away from the explosion to see Sandstorm shaking slightly so I squeeze his hand reassuringly and he smiled at me a little before squeezing it back; he knew he would be able to talk to me if he ever got upset and I was glad to have a made a new friend.

"It's as beautiful in death as it was in life" Sandstorm stated quietly but we all heard him and took his words in

"well no need to get all mushy, Cybertron is a better place anyways. Not so perfect" Rodimus responded and I shot him a sharp glare at how insensitive he just was but I was surprised to hear Sandstorm laugh a little; at least he wasn't offended by Rodimus being brutally honest. As everyone reboarded the few ships I stopped Sandstorm and pulled him aside, he was confused before I smiled

"if you ever need to talk about what just happened you are always welcomed to come find me. I know what it's like to watch your home planet get blown up" I explained and he was a little confused

"you do?" he questioned and I nodded sadly

"you see the Decepticons tricked me and removed my energy chip essentially offlining me almost, they were using our planet's core to charge their weapon; my chip was the stabiliser. Anyways long story short Wheelie took my chip back but it caused the machine to explode which also made the planet explode too" I recalled and Sandstorm pulled me into a hug which I returned before we parted

"it's okay now though, Wheelie saved my life and my people had already perished a long time ago. Besides as Rodimus so nicely put it Cybertron is a better place anyways" I quickly added and Sandstorm laughed. We heard our names being called by Springer so we quickly hurried back to the ship and got on board as we took off back to Cybertron with new friends to join us.

* * *

Sitting alone in her lab, Sundancer fiddled with the memory chips. She had discovered the other two she had saved belonged to Prowl and Ironhide respectively. A part of her wondered if just maybe she could bring them back but crushed that thought as soon as it came. She was no god nor was Amarr and she was sure he would be disappointed in her for trying to play god. Thinking of Amarr brought her back to the whole Paradron exploding and she couldn't help but wonder if her planet looked as beautiful in its death.

Placing the chips back into a well-worn box, she let her eyes settle on the necklace Arcee had found. It had belonged to Ace and she was glad she was able to have a piece of him to keep with her forever. Thinking of Ace let her wander back to Elder, she had noticed he had been getting quite slow these days and was looking more tired with each visit. She knew he was past him prime age and that soon she would have to let him go but she didn't want to really. Bar her, he was the only other survivor of her planet and she was scared that Sestra's memory would die out with them. Plus who was she going to pass the wisdom onto?

Pushing those consuming thoughts away she rubbed her optics tiredly before closing the draw and locking it. She was still young so she had plenty of time and Elder was still trudging along so why fret over things that won't happen for quite some time and yet why did she feel like time was against her...


	10. The Dweller in the Depths

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Energy vampires 'nough said

**Location: ?, Cybertron**

**Her POV**

I could barely contain my excitement as I made my way to the energy control room where I was meeting with the others, today was a very big day for me and Perceptor well mainly me but Perceptor was also excited. I knew this because he hadn't stopped talking about how glad he was we finally completed it and would finally get to use it. Finally, after so much research, long hours of no recharge and little to no energon, Perceptor's power core was finally complete.

It would power Cybertron for generations to come, it truly was a remarkable creation and I was extremely lucky and proud to have helped with its development. I skipped past a couple of transformers who eyed me strangely but I didn't care, I was too excited to get to my destination; when I reached the door I knocked on it and heard an enter so I entered and spotted everyone was already there waiting for me so I hurried over to Perceptor's side who gave me a welcoming smile.

"Glad you made it Sundancer" he greeted and I grinned gently shoving him playfully

"you know I wouldn't miss out on today. Not after everything we put into it" I responded playfully before turning to watch out the large glass window which overviewed where the power core would be, Arcee and Magnus were also with us overseeing the installation while Rodimus was outside directing Springer where to connect the power core. We waited a few moments until Springer lowered the power core which connected instantly and I felt extremely giddy now that it was ready to be tested

"It's completed at last! This new power core will triple Cybertron's energy reserves" Perceptor exclaimed and I couldn't help but giggle at how excited the normally calm scientist was

"Indeed it is Perceptor, but are you sure the city can handle the excess power?" Ultra Magnus questioned concerned and I tried not to roll my eyes because obviously we wouldn't have made something so important if we didn't consider all the variables and dangers. We were scientists, not idiots the only one who I would consider to fit into that category was Wheeljack. The thought of him sent a wave of sadness but I pushed it aside because today was supposed to be a good day, not a sad one

"we have taken every precaution Ultra Magnus, but just in case there would be a power overload. Activating this lever will jettison the power core into space before an explosion can occur" Perceptor explained gesturing to the glass protected lever and I coughed as Perceptor jumped before he rubbed his neck sheepishly

"it was Sundancer's idea to incorporate it" Perceptor quickly added on and I grinned at him satisfied I wasn't going to let him hog all the credit after all.

"Look there is Rodimus and Springer's signal" Arcee pointed out as Rodimus and Springer were waving at the control booth from the ground Perceptor moved to the control panel pushing a few buttons,

"alright prepare for the fireworks" Perceptor stated as I moved to stand next to Arcee as Perceptor activated the power core which erupted in a bright fiery light before stabilizing, there were no words to properly express how amazing it is to see a creation you help make be used for the first time, it truly was a special and big moment for me.

"Hey, we did it!" I cheered excitedly as Perceptor smiled at me and the other 2 nodded agreeing with us.

"This will power us for centuries and make us enough energon to make us Autobots completely self-efficient" Perceptor boasted and I couldn't help but shake my head since he really was getting ahead of himself but in a good way of course.

After a few more discussions I left with Perceptor to go over some minor details that we wanted to iron out make sure there wouldn't be any long-term damage to the power core. It was peaceful working in Perceptor's lab, so much so I missed my alert comm about the Decepticons invading the old part of Cybertron, I was really engulfed into this datapad that was left behind by the Quintessons which described experiments they had tried to make between organics and robots however I hadn't decrypted if they were successful or not. A few hours later Perceptor stood up urgently quickly gathering together some random datapads before turning to where I was still sitting at the spare desk watching him concerned

"Sundancer I got to run this info back to the control room, just stay put here okay and lock the door" he informed me and I was confused on why Perceptor was acting so strange especially since one of the datapads he had grabbed was about Praxus.

"What is going on Perceptor?" I asked worried but he shook his head and gave me a comforting smile that didn't ease the strange feeling I was getting

"don't worry about it, just do as I say and lock the door behind me and stay quiet" he ordered me before looking at me one more time and disappearing out the door and into the dark hallways. I sat there for a few moments shaking off the weird feeling I got and walked over to lock the door like Perceptor requested when I heard something strange almost like a grumble of sorts which made me tense up because it definitely wasn't something a normal Autobot would make and I was wondered if maybe we had been infiltrated.

I opened the door quietly before carefully peeking out to see nothing but a dark hallway on both sides, I shrugged thinking I was going crazy and was about to return to my work when I heard it again; I whipped my head around to see glowing red eyes and a familiar figure. I was now more annoyed than scared because if they thought this was a funny joke to pull I was not amused, I decided to confront him and whoever else he was working with to reprimand them for scaring me

"Springer is that you? If your trying to play a joke on me it isn't funny" I called stepping out of the safety of the room and into the hallway as Springer stepped into the little light, that was when I realized something was seriously wrong. Springer looked dead almost and was walking slowly towards me

"feed me" he grumbled and my eyes widen and I shakily pulled my blaster out of my subspace pocket and aimed it at him

"Stay back, I don't know what is wrong with you Springer but don't make me shoot you!" I demanded but he kept coming forward.

I knew I couldn't shoot my friend so I let out a small scream before turning on my heels and bolting in the opposite direction towards the control room, I kept looking back to see Springer with a Sweeps who was also zombified and they were catching up quite quickly. I was so focused on running away and looking behind me I barely noticed I had crashed into Ultra Magnus, I hadn't seen him yet and started to struggle thinking he was also zombified.

"Let me go!" I yelled struggling in his strong arms before I felt Ultra Magnus let me go enough to turn me around, I realized it really was just him and Arcee and both were also quite freaked out but relieved I was okay and I was also relieved to see friends who were not trying to eat me or whatever was wrong with Springer

"you guys...what in the pit is going on!" I demanded furiously and also freaked out because I had no clue what in primus was going on as we heard groans coming from the direction I had come from, Ultra Magnus grabbed my wrist and pulled me into a sprint with Arcee right next to us

"no time to explain... we got to get to the control room asap" Ultra Magnus responded and I nodded hoping that Perceptor and Rodimus were okay. We kept running until we reached the wider part of the hallway before we transformed since it would be faster and picked up speed to get to the control room before the energy vampires got to us first.

After a few minutes which felt like a lifetime as we crossed Cybertron's surface towards the power plant, a familiar comforting building came into view as Ultra Magnus lead the way through the door and transformed which I quickly followed stumbling a little since it was rushed as Perceptor and Rodimus turned to us surprised that we had barged in like Unicron was after us and at this point, in time it really felt like he was. I spotted Perceptor and felt a great relief wash over me causing me to rush forward and hug Perceptor tightly which he returned

"Perceptor, I'm sorry. I was going to lock the door but I heard a noise and it sounded like Springer but it wasn't and oh god what is going on!" I asked panicked as he hushed me softly while rubbing my back trying to calm me down

"it's okay Sundancer, I shouldn't have left you there. That was my mistake" he apologized and I shook my head knowing at the time he was just trying to keep me out of harm's way and continued to let him comfort me as I tried to calm my processor's down

"the Decepticons let loose some sort of living energy leach and anything it touches becomes an energy-sucking vampire as well" Ultra Magnus quickly explained the situation for my benefit since PErceptor and Rodimus seemed to have already known, finally getting my processors and thinking under control I loosened my grip on Perceptor knowing now wasn't the time to freak out. I stepped away from his safety and walked back over to Arcee who gave me a reassuring smile which I returned.

"We got to destroy that thing before Cybertron becomes a dead husk" Rodimus stated as the groaning got close, I let out a yelp as the doors were being broken down and immediately backed up as our zombified friends and Decepticons spilled into the room.

"Kup, Wreckgar, Springer!" Rodimus yelled but Arcee shook her head upset

"they can't hear you Rodimus" Arcee stated shaking her helm backing up a little

"they are suffering from a unique form of energy depletion, making them into energy leeches themselves" Perceptor analyzed as I backed up till I felt the wall behind me causing me to trip over and land on my butt, I turned to realize I had somehow backed into a corner and the others were more to my left leaving me trapped between a wall and energy vampires. I felt a hand wrap around my ankle and let out a scream as I realized one of the sweeps had gotten close enough to me to grab me as I felt all my energy getting sucked out; I could barely hear the yells of the others over the feeling of feeling the darkness creep up on me until I felt a hunger take over me.

I felt so hungry for energy and my eyes locked onto Arcee, Rodimus, Perceptor, and Ultra Magnus who were watching terrified of me now and trying to keep the other energy leeches at bay; I stood up and slowly inched forward with the others craving the energy that they were producing. The hunger I felt was insatiable and it drove me forward to feast on my friends if only to lessen the feeling.

"oh god Sundancer, what are we going to do!" Arcee exclaimed, Perceptor had shifted towards the controls behind them

"a massive power surge should bring their imbalance back to normal! We need to form a chain" Perceptor explained as he changed his hand before using his other to grab Arcee's as they formed a 4 bot chain.

As we moved forward for our prey, Perceptor stuck his hand into the control panel which released a power burst and I felt the hunger dissipate first before I felt my energy returning. I blinked as my body felt sluggish but also rejuvenated, I turned to see the others who were infected were also back to normal; I stumbled a little and felt arms wrap around me and I realized it was Rodimus who had grabbed me to keep me stable.

I turned and flashed him a grateful but tired smile as we re-focused on the Decepticons who were equally as confused which was a good distraction from my spark beating wildly in my chest due to how Rodimus was holding me so protectively

"what happened?" Cyclonus asked as Springer, Wreckgar, Kup, and Magnus were ready to bash their heads in even if the former 3 were still exhausted after the whole energy vampire thing.

"That's something you tell us" Springer shot back as the Decepticons back up

"let's get out of here!" Scourge yelled and they quickly took off escaping Cybertron for now. Rodimus let me go once he was sure they were gone and I stood up properly still feeling sluggish but functional; Perceptor quickly checked us over and confirmed we just needed a good recharge and some energon to feel good as new thankfully. But it still left the major issue of the giant energy leech the Decepticons had released

"Okay, so we stopped the vampires now what do we do about the giant leech?" I asked as we watched as it easily batted away some Autobots once it broke through the ground.

"Look at the size of it now" Arcee comments as we watched it get closer to Perceptor's power core, not quite sure what we could even do in this situation

"it's feeding off any energy it can get and keeps growing" Ultra Magnus added and I realized what it meant if it reached the energy core and I'm pretty sure Perceptor did too since he tensed

"if it latches onto the power core, there will be no stopping it!" Perceptor added concerned as Rodimus turned to look at the small red lever on the control panel

"alright then we get rid of it" Rodimus suggested and we were all surprised since it was a pretty decent idea but still risky at the same time.

"You mean jettison it into space!" I demanded not wanting to have to shoot our invention into space but Rodimus looked at me firmly and I backed down

"it's the only way" he responded and I sighed knowing what he said was true and it was the best outcome, I felt Perceptor lay a hand on my shoulder and I knew it be okay we would just make a new one later.

All we could do was wait and watch the security feed until the leech got close enough for us to put our plan into action, I ended up having to look away so I didn't have to see the Autobots being thrown around like toys to the massive energy leech as it batted them aside like they were nothing. Oh yeah, I was going to have my hands full when this was over; something I was not looking forward too since all I wanted to do was get some recharge and energon. Finally, the leech came into view just as it had attached itself to the power core, the moment it did that Rodimus turned to Perceptor and me

"do it now!" he ordered and Perceptor punched the glass before pulling the lever, this activated the rockets beneath the power core which shot it into space with the energy leeched attached

"and don't come back now you hear" Wreckgar added as the leech and core disappeared from view. Kup monitored its progress and once we were sure it had left the atmosphere, they started to celebrate; I slumped down against the wall exhausted from all the excitement, fear and of course getting my energy sucked out that I had experienced in the last few hours. I barely noticed Perceptor sitting next to me as I laid my head on his shoulder and closed my eyes

"It sucks we had to get rid of the core" I grumbled and Perceptor laughed a little

"I know but we still have the schematics, and we can always build it better now that we don't have to deal with an energy leech wrecking our work" Perceptor responded and I hummed in acknowledgment before letting myself think about Jazz and Mirage back on earth and was wondering how they had been since it had been a while since I last visited; on my next day off I decided I would go visit them, but for now all I wanted was some energon and recharge.

I was happy in the end though, losing the core was tough but my friends were all okay and that was all that mattered, I snapped out of my thoughts while opening my optics when I heard Rodimus speaking

"I wonder where it's going to end up?" he questioned and Springer laughed slinging an arm around his shoulders "who knows maybe it will get returned to sender" Springer joked which everyone laughed at and I felt myself relax against Perceptor again knowing that everything was going to be okay and that we were all still here and not energy vampires.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that is that these next couple of chapters are shortish since I never intended them to be a part of the original work that I had already had set out so I'm kind of just rolling along with it all. 
> 
> I did enjoy this chapter; I was tossing up between having Sundancer join them in the tunnels but I figured that her being left behind then running into a Springer vampire would be an alright way to bring her into the plot so I went with that. There is only 2 more episodes to go with 1 more custom before this book's finale which I'm super excited about.


	11. Only Human

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Autobots turned into squishes. Fun.

**Location: Milky way, Earth**

**Her POV**

Man this city sure knows how to rock as another explosion rocked the streets I was carefully driving through to avoid squishing any of the panicking humans, I had been on a routine mission at Autobot City with Magnus, Arcee, Rodimus, and Springer when we got an alert that some terrorist group was attacking New York so we were dispatched to handle the issue. Arcee and Springer went to assist the humans while Magnus, Rodimus, and myself headed to the dock which is where they believed the terrorist's true target was and the bombs were a distraction, we arrived just in time to see 3 human males rummaging through a bunch of boxes.

We transformed as Rodimus and Magnus went to deal with the terrorists I hung back observing to make sure there weren't any more in the area, the little humans attempts to shoot Magnus and Rodimus was quite funny although I kept that to myself; that was when I noticed two males watching from behind a building. A quick scan revealed both were armed so I was about to head over there when my attention was brought back to Rodimus removing a small canister from the human and tapped it against his head and I fought the urge to roll my eyes at how casual Rodimus was handling an unknown container.

I quickly refocused on the two humans to see one had drawn his weapon and taken aim before I could stop him the human had shot the canister which exploded knocking both Magnus and Rodimus into the water.

"No Rodimus, Magnus!" I yelled as my two friends disappeared beneath the water, my yell had caught the two human's attention and the one who shot the canister gave me a smug annoyed look

"what's it going to be sweets, chase after us or help your stupid friends?" he taunted as he and his accomplice ran to a small ship I had overlooked and took off.

I let out a frustrated growl at the nickname the human gave me before hurrying over to the dock's edge, I looked into the water for any sign of my friends until I saw some ripples, which made me lean closer before a head appeared causing me to scream a little falling back on my aft as I realized it was Rodimus's head in the water laughing; I shot him an unamused look before offering my hand which he took as I helped him back onto the dock, I then offered Ultra Magnus my hand but he shook his head and heaved himself back onto the dock. I quickly activated my visor and started to check for any damages

"when am I going to learn to be more careful" Rodimus grumbled as I gently poked his neck and chest looking for any signs of pain

"when you stop being an idiot, how could you carelessly hold an unknown object near your face?" I scolded Rodimus as I ran a quick scan over him ignoring his grumbles of how a leader shouldn't be getting in trouble which made me roll my eyes before moving to check Ultra Magnus over

"hopefully at the next opportunity" Ultra Magnus added in response to Rodimus's earlier statement which made me smile before nodding to Magnus that he was all clear, I stood up remembering the nickname the human had given me; I wasn't quite sure what it meant so I figured asking wouldn't hurt

"hey, guys what does sweets mean?" I asked and they looked at me surprised and confused

"uh it's what human call candy or lollies depending on where you are in the world, it can also be a nickname one gives to a loved one or to tease them" Ultra Magnus explained and I hummed thinking about the context the human had used

"why do you ask Sundancer?" Ultra Magnus followed up and I shrugged nonchalantly

"that is what one of those human males referred to me as, the same one that shot the canister" I explained and I took notice how Rodimus face fell while Ultra Magnus placed a hand on Rodimus shoulder and shook his head. This confused me since I felt like I was missing out on something but before I could ask Rodimus only nodded at Magnus

"doesn't matter what he said let's hurry to the meeting point" he ordered as we all transformed and headed to the meeting point where we would meet with the police chief and of course all the interviews which made me roll my eyes, one thing I learned that annoyed me about humans is that they tended to blow everything out of proportion and gossip too much.

After all the hassling and interviews I was glad to be back at Autobot City. I had requested some time off to visit Jazz and Mirage which they granted me so I took off to the Ark, I spent the majority of the day there reminiscing and joking around with the others before I got a message over my comms

 **-hey Sundancer there has been a break in the case-** Arcee messaged and I was surprised we had one so quickly since the terrorists had left no clues it was almost suspicious

 **-are you sure it's a real break in the case? It could be a trap-** I answered concerned my friends could potentially be walking into a trap

 **-we just can't waste this opportunity besides they are humans-** Arcee reassured me but it didn't remove the growing feeling that something wasn't right

 **-do you need me to join you guys? -** I messaged back hoping she would say yes so I could help my friends

 **-Nah we got this but Rodimus wants you back at Autobot City just in case we need your help later-** Arcee responded and I nodded before turning my comm off. I smiled apologetic to Jazz and Mirage who brushed it off telling me I got my job to do so I hugged them both before transforming and heading back to Autobot City, I was surprised it was dark already not realizing I had spent so much time in the Ark.

When I arrived back at Autobot City, Kup informed me the others had just left and I sighed kind of wishing I got to tag along but didn't say anything else before taking a seat next to Kup and pulling out a datapad to start my work knowing it was going to be a long night of boredom. Kup tried to cheer me up with some of his stories which for the most part kept me occupied before he had to go and do his rounds leaving me along in the room, I turned to continue reading my data pad; eventually, I felt the need to recharge so I figured taking a small nap would hurt so I gently placed the datapad aside before resting my head on the desk, my last thought was where could Rodimus be before my systems went into recharge.

I blinked my optics tiredly, my systems informed me it was about 8 in the morning Earth time as I sat up properly in my chair and stretched, a blanket fell from around me and I turned to see Kup entering the room holding an energon cube; he walked over to me and I gratefully took the cube and had a sip before yawning

"God I'm tired, sleeping in a chair is so not comfortable" I grumbled while Kup chuckled

"sorry you looked peaceful so I didn't move you" Kup apologized but I shook my head before realizing the time and I felt panic build up.

"Kup have we heard anything from the others?" I asked and I felt my fears getting confirmed when Kup shook his head; the concern was all over his old face as well

"Sorry but no, I was up all night checking and they hadn't reported back. I wouldn't worry though; they are quite capable and probably having their signal jammed or something" Kup informed me and I sighed sinking into my chair

"I am just going to quickly run this over to the human sector; you okay holding the fort here?" Kup asked and I finally noticed the small folder he must have pulled from his subspace. I snorted and waved him off which he smiled at me before placing a hand on my shoulder

"don't worry about them so them, Rodimus is a big bot he can handle himself" Kup added and I felt my face warm and turned to throw my empty cube at him but he had already transformed laughing and took off out of the security room leaving me groaning before I decided to start plotting his demise.

I turned my attention back to the security feed to see a pink female with blonde hair arguing with the human guards, this made me curious since she looked familiar but I couldn't quite place my finger on it; I decided I would keep an eye on her before checking the other cameras to make sure I wasn't missing anything else. A few minutes later the door opened again and I turned to see Kup transformed and I gave him a smile

"everything all good?" I asked and he nodded

"except for some random lady in pink screaming my name, I figured she was a bit crazy so I didn't listen" Kup added on and I was curious

"did she have blonde hair?" I asked but Kup shrugged

"don't know didn't get a good look at her, oh well has there been anything from the others?" Kup asked as he took his seat and this time I shook my head

"nadda zilch, the only interesting thing that had happened was the pink female" I didn't finish what I was saying as there was a beep and Kup pulled the feed up as Blaster face appeared grinning

"I got 3 of them for ya, Magnus, Rodimus and Arcee all coming right up the road, they are coming home" Blaster reported and I felt great relief go through me that they were okay. I did note that Blaster didn't say Springer but I guessed he was behind the others or something but I was too excited that the others were okay to think much on it.

"Kup can we go greet them please?" I asked and Kup nodded which I knew he would so we both transformed and headed out to the entrance of the city, there we met up with Grimlock and Perceptor who were also happy our missing friends were finally back. We waited only another minute or so before we heard Blaster through the announcement system

"make that 4 in a row! We got Springer back too" Blaster announced and I couldn't help but cheer with the others, knowing that everyone was going to be okay.

Once the celebrations died down later though I would give all 4 of them a piece of my mind for making us so worried but for now I was content to celebrate with everyone else, I did wonder why they hadn't responded to any comm requests which was really strange; _if they were finally returning why hadn't they informed us unless_..., I didn't get to finish that train of thought though since suddenly there was the sound of blaster fire as I felt Kup grab me and pulled me out of the way as a shot barely missed us exploding. I quickly scrambled to my feet confused on why Springer had started to fire on us when I realized that those robots were not our friends but imposters instead.

The sound of the warning system confirmed that thought as I quickly followed the others to the battle stations, once we were through with these fakes though there would be hell to pay until we found our real friends. Once the city was fully transformed into the battle mode it opened fire on Springer instantly shooting him down, the other 3 tried to escape but some quick shooting and they also ended up being disabled.

Once we were sure they were disabled, we immediately set out to investigate the imposters and to demand where our real friends were, I wasn't expecting to see 3 humans wearing matching colors to our friends with some of the tied up terrorists; I stopped confused until the human guards also brought forward the pink-haired lady and she quickly hurried over to the 3 humans. Kup stepped forward and I could tell he was just as confused as the rest of us was

"start talking, just what in the pit is going on here! Who are you 4 and why were the terrorists trying to blow up Autobot City" Kup questioned or more like demanded with his tone.

The humans quickly explained that they were our real friends who had been tricked and put into these human bodies while the terrorists planned to use their real forms as Trojan horses of sorts and blow up Autobot City from the inside, I shook my head at how gullible the 4 had been, maybe now they would take humans a little more seriously.

After minor details, Kup turned to me and I looked at the humans trying to see any breaks that they were lying but I could easily see they were being truthful so I smiled and nodded; Kup turned to Blaster and ordered him to get a crew together to help take the bodies back to Drath's so we could reverse the whole process and get our real friends back.

I took great pleasure in making Arcee freak out by speeding since I had offered her a lift back to Draft's place, apparently being a human heightened the thrill of speeding and Arcee hadn't been expecting the difference to be so noticeable; all good things must come to an end though and before I knew it we had arrived back at Drath's place found the machine that Drath had used, unfortunately, it was in pieces, fortunately, though Perceptor and I were quite smart and it wouldn't take us too long to put it back together.

Once we had fully repaired the machine, we went about transforming the Autobots back into their bipedal mode but left Ultra Magnus in his alt mode since he was too big, we then carefully placed the Autobots back inside the large cylinder before hooking them up to the machines.

Perceptor then went to work on the control panel making the necessary changes to reverse the process as our human friends stepped into the small cylinders again, I pouted since I was enjoying being the taller one for once and kind of wish we didn't have to change them back but I knew it was for the best anyway so I moved to stand next to the control panel as Perceptor hooked up some more wires to the small tubes.

"This should accomplish the reversal" Perceptor stated and I doubled checked what he had done running it through the same calculations and nodded agreeing that this would be our best chance; apparently Rodimus wasn't afraid of being turned into mush if we got this wrong since he seemed quite eager to get back to his old form

"go ahead Perceptor, do it" Rodimus ordered and Perceptor turned to Blaster who was at the activation panel

"energise" Perceptor ordered and Blaster activated the machine, I was quite fascinated of the process as the small cylinders started to glow red before I was little taken aback since the human bodies of our friends started to disintegrate making me feel a little queasy but I held it back and waited hoping this would work, the large cylinder glowed red as the transfer must have been complete since there was nothing left of the faux bodies so Perceptor nodded at Blaster who turned it off.

There was silence as we waited for any indication our friends were back, Rodimus lifted his head before stretching and I felt relief flood my system they were back to normal and hadn't been turned to mush. The others also did a little stretch shaking out the stiffness before we let them out, I couldn't help myself and hugged Rodimus who returned it without hesitation as I tried to calm my spark down from being so closed to him.

I ignored the looks the others were giving us before I pulled away embarrassed when I realized what I had done and looked away ignoring the laughter from the others; even if it was embarrassing I really was just glad everyone back to normal.

We walked outside to see Darth and his goons being taken away

"Well, did you enjoy your sojourn, Rodimus?" Perceptor asked and I noticed that Rodimus was watching the human female get taken away before answering

"Maybe a little _too_ much, Perceptor" Rodimus responded and I tried to ignore the green envy of jealously build up and let out a small hmpf which only Perceptor heard because he backtracked to stand next to me before reassuringly patted me on the shoulder

"don't worry, a little jealously is alright" Perceptor whispered and I rolled my eyes as Rodimus ordered us to transform which we did and we began the long drive back to Autobot City. Sometimes I wondered why I even bothered with them, one day they are going to give me a spark attack from all the worrying I do.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that is the end of that, like I said short and sweet. I didn't feel like turning her into a human so I had her stay at Autobot City for the most part and a little jellyness in for fun and poor Sundancer, I'm surprised she doesn't get overwhelmed with how strong her feelings are for her friends, maybe she should who knows.


	12. The burden hardest to bear

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rodimus cracks under the pressure, Sundancer is there to remind him and pick up the pieces.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter will have fluff since I was craving marshmallows.

**Location: Milky Way, Earth**

I had been passing by the communication room when I overheard Rodimus making plans with Kup to grab SkyLinx and the 3 would be the backup team for the earth team in japan. When I heard about them going to Japan, I got really excited since I had always wanted to visit other continents on earth but it just never been the right time plus I had finished all my tasks for the day so it wasn't like I had anything else to do. I entered the communication room gaining both mech's attention, I gave them a little wave

"Hey guys, what is up" I greeted as I walked over to them, both gave me welcoming smiles

"nothing much Sundancer, we are just about to go get SkyLinx to help assist the earth team in japan" Kup responded as he turned to inform SkyLinx that he is needed for an earth mission.

"Oh cool! Can I come with you? I finished my tasks for the day and I've really wanted to visit Japan" I requested hoping they would say yes, Rodimus looked at Kup for a second who nodded before he gave me a smile

"Alright, be ready to leave in 5 minutes. It is urgent we get there as quickly as possible" Rodimus responded, I felt a grin work its way onto my face as I got excited that I would finally get to see an earthen continent before hurrying out of the communication room and speeding over to my med bay to pick up a couple of things I would need for my travel medkit

The trip to earth was boring for the most part just slight idle talk between myself and SkyLinx when he wasn't boasting, of course, it wasn't until SkyLinx announced our arrival in Japan did I get excited again. We were heading towards the tell-tale signs of a firefight, arriving just in time to see the Sweeps and Cyclonus take some potshots at Defensor with one hitting him in the back badly damaging him; this made me wince and I knew he was going to need some serious repairs after this was over.

Rodimus and Kup climbed outside SkyLinx using his wing and main shuttle part as support as SkyLinx shot Cyclonus out of the sky and made the attacking Sweeps deviate away from the injured Defensor; SkyLinx shot at Bruticus who was still on the floor making him separate and take off as SkyLinx landed where they just were

"nice shooting SkyLinx" Kup praised as they both hopped off SkyLinx,

"yes, Kup I know" SkyLinx accepted with his smug tone.

Hearing his response made me roll my eyes as I quickly hopped out of SkyLinx and hurried over to the injured Defensor and started to assess the damage done to his back thankfully it was only his armor that was damaged and a quick patch had him up and ready to go again, but he would be out of the fight for a while since I had administered heavy pain killers which caused the protector bots to separate before instructing the Aerial bots to take them back to the small base we had in Japan to get properly repaired.

The humans started to talk to Rodimus and I was about to join them when a sharp pain tore through my shoulder making me yelp as I dropped to my knees holding my shoulder, I saw out of the corner of my eye one of the sweeps quickly taking off as I heard footsteps hurry over to me. I felt gentle hands gently sit me down comfortably and realized Kup was actually assessing the damage while Rodimus looked furious before he settled for a neutral expression although he was still obviously concerned for my injury before I could say anything SkyLinx had walked over.

"Rodimus if I may intrude. I am receiving a rather vehement transmission. You are wanted at the imperial palace" SkyLinx reported and at that moment Rodimus looked like he wanted to just punch something which scared me a little since I hadn't seen him looked so worked up before; Rodimus didn't respond instead choosing to look at me and I realized he didn't want to leave me injured but I gave him a smile trying to reassure him I would be fine without him being overprotective

"go on Rodimus, it is just a scrape" I reassured him before wincing as Kup poked a really painful part of my shoulder, Kup also turned to Rodimus

"I will tend to her injuries, go on lad and deal with the humans" Kup stated and Rodimus looked like he wanted to ignore the request but the humans were getting quite annoying and if I hadn't been such a nice person I probably would have squashed them. But he finally relented and headed over to the imperial palace while Kup and SkyLinx stayed with me to make sure I was okay. Kup might not have been a medic but he did a pretty decent job considering I had to direct him a few times, I knew I would need to get it properly checked over and repaired back at base but for now, I could function with only slight amount of pain.

I sat on SkyLinx's wing as we waited for Rodimus to return from the meeting with the Japanese government, finally, after what felt like forever he walked over to us, I noticed immediately that he looked really tense and ready to snap and knew things hadn't gone so well for him and the government. God humans could be such ungrateful creatures. Fascinating but ungrateful. He stood next to Kup and I could feel his gaze move to my injury so I give him a soft smile.

"Before you ask, I'm A-Okay Rodimus, you don't need to worry so much" I stated and I swore I saw his face soften a little before it was back to being tense

"heck of a day huh" Kup started and I knew he was trying to see if he could get Rodimus to open up and maybe relax a little and not look like he was ready to bash some helms in.

"Tell me about it, I was at the imperial palace all afternoon with the prime minister" Rodimus responded not quite opening up but it was a start, I shot Kup a slightly concerned look which he returned before he tried again

"eh you have had worse times" Kup added and Rodimus looked at him, his face still not changing.

"When do they get better that is what I want to know" Rodimus retorted his voice laced with annoyance and I could tell Kup was now really concerned for our leader just as much as I was after all Rodimus didn't tend to think right when he was extremely stressed so we knew it was really bad if he was getting snarky with Kup.

"What is eating you?" Kup asked giving Rodimus his full attention, this made Rodimus face blank as he seemed thoughtful before answering

"I don't know Kup I feel boxed in" Rodimus tried to explain, I didn't know what to say but it seems Kup had it covered

"like the weight of the world rests on your shoulders?" Kup suggested

"yeah" Rodimus replied but Kup wasn't going to let up now that he started to crack Rodimus

"like you want to run away" Kup again suggested just as a small car pulled up a little away from us

"yeah and how, there are just so many responsibilities-" Rodimus stated again before his attention was on the human female who had just exited the vehicle.

I knew who it was; it was Marissa Faireborn and while she was a good friend to some of the other Autobots I personally wasn't fond of her too much. So when she approached I crossed my arms turning away slightly deciding to look over to the beautiful Japanese gardens while still listening to the conversation

"hey, Rodimus! We got a problem, Earth defense command needs-" Marissa voice was cut off by Rodimus snarky attitude which had me turning to look at him surprised.

"Not you too! Give me a break will ya! Since when am I the only one who could solve everyone's problems!" Rodimus snapped finally and I had to hide the slight satisfaction I felt when I saw the look of shock on Marissa's face as Rodimus transformed and took off

"just leave me alone!" he yelled back to us before racing off leaving a trail of smoke.

I quickly hopped off SkyLinx really concerned for Rodimus I turned to Kup who also had a slight despair look on his face; we both knew how much Rodimus felt pressured to be a good leader and it was hard to fill the shoes Optimus left. I could relate slightly in feeling the pressure to be perfect, to be a good leader as once upon a time I had been in the same position only I was getting groomed to lead an entire planet.

"What's with him?" Marissa asked as she walked over to Kup and me, however, all we did was stare in the direction Rodimus had taken off in

"Giri" was all Kup responded with,

"Giri?" Marissa asked and Kup turned to look at her while I was still focused in the direction that Rodimus had taken off in

"Japanese word: it means the burden hardest to bear" Kup briefly explained and I finally turned to the two of them to see Marissa finally put the pieces together on why Rodimus acted the way he did.

"Ah, he is feeling the pressures of leadership is that it?" Marissa clarified and I had to give her credit she was pretty smart to pick things up quickly. Kup and Marissa started to walk back to the small base we had in Japan and her vehicle while I followed at a more leisurely pace with SkyLinx still listening but not quite feeling the need to join in

"same thing happened to Optimus Prime after the matrix was passed to him, Optimus learned to live with his Giri and respect it" Kup responded and I was surprised that even the great Optimus Prime had felt how Rodimus is feeling now once upon a time back in his early years

"and now it is Rodimus's turn...Is there anything we can do to help?" Marissa asked and I wanted to scoff at her but couldn't find the effort too and focused on my sore shoulder instead as Kup helped Marissa into her vehicle

"nope he has to resolve it himself" Kup finished with and I felt an all too familiar feeling of green jealously worm its way into my spark when Marissa stated she was going to seek Rodimus out anyways believing he needed someone to talk too.

"Hey Marissa!" I called to her just before she left, she opened her window as I knelt down to talk to her

"yes Sundancer?" she asked and I fought down my emotions and gave her a small smile

"if you're going to check on Rodimus, I will come with. Between us two we should find him pretty quickly" I suggested and I could tell she was a little surprised since she knew I wasn't her biggest fan before she smiled and nodded

"alright then, meet me at the underpass in an hour" she accepted before she closed her window and took off as I stood back up. I felt a hand on my shoulder and turned to Kup who was giving me a knowing look as I rolled my eyes

"I didn't mean anything alright, I am just concerned with Rodimus too" I stated quickly while ignoring the smile Kup had as we continued on back to base.

I waited at the underpass in my alt mode and just as it ticked over to an hour Marissa appeared and honked her horn which I returned before we took off into the quiet dark streets, we searched for about 20 minutes before Marissa had an idea of where he would be given his personality and she lead the way towards the long highway that would be empty at this time of evening.

After a few minutes of driving on the highway, I saw a familiar truck and felt my spark quicken, at least he was okay albeit I don't think he noticed us. Marissa tried to contact Rodimus but he must have still been pissy since he completely dissed her choosing to want to race instead, I sent a quick comm to Marissa informing her that we wouldn't get through to him any other way so we both picked up speed and started to race Rodimus even if he was faster I was hoping he will blow off enough steam to want to talk to us.

Suddenly Dead End and Wild Rider cut Marissa off causing her to stop dead as she opened fire on them while I had to slow down to prevent myself from crashing into her but it didn't deter the two Decepticons nor Rodimus who seemed to get a kick off it and picked up even more speed.

Marissa and I followed the 3 vehicles around the sharp turns just hoping that Rodimus didn't do something too stupid and result in him getting injured, according to my GPS we were approaching a dead end and before I could figure out a plan there was a large oil spill on the road which caused Marrisa's vehicle to spin out of control and crash into a ditch while I had to stop completely to avoid the oil spill as well; Rodimus attempted to turn around to aid us but was shoved roughly causing him to topple over the edge.

I froze I had no clue what to do in this situation, I couldn't fight two Decepticons on my own and help Rodimus but at the same time, I couldn't abandon Marissa either despite her being an annoyance to me. I thought over both choices before I quickly transformed and slid down into the ditch to see Marissa stuck in a bog of sorts, I was a little grossed out but I couldn't leave her stuck there so I carefully grab the small vehicle and helped pull it back onto land. Marissa waved to me before she tried to comm Rodimus as I helped push her car back up the ditch and onto the main road.

The Decepticons had disappeared so we both hurried to the edge and I felt my spark drop almost, Rodimus was smoking and was badly damaged from the crash, I immediately felt guilty for choosing to assist Marissa first and not helping him instead when he was obviously the much more injured patient. I quickly hopped down ignoring Marissa as I knelt by Rodimus's side as I felt some tears start to fall but I brushed them away the best I could before I activated my visor and scanning his form to see the damage.

It was something that could be fixed easily back at base, but it still made my spark cry in pain as I grabbed his hand and held it to my face; I knew the Decepticons had taken the Matrix but at this current moment it was the last thing on my mind. I was being weak allowing my emotions to control my actions so much so I barely registered Marissa's presence as she had made her way over to me until I felt a small hand touch my leg; startled I turned to see her giving me a reassuring smile and I felt myself returning her smile

"he is going to be okay, I know he would have wanted you to help me first before him" Marissa comforted me and I nodded my head in response. In the situation I knew I had made the right choice; Marissa was the one in the most amount of danger as she was a lot weaker than any transformer plus I was not skilled enough to take 2 Decepticons and would have ended up in the same condition as Rodimus but it didn't help lessen the pain my spark felt as seeing him so broken and damaged.

My feelings for Rodimus had grown more than I had ever expected them too but at this current moment he needed medical help and I needed to get control over myself and stop acting like it was the end of the world. I took a few deep breaths before giving Marissa a confident smile as I activated my visor again and set to work repairing what I could as I commed Kup for assistance in getting Rodimus back to base, I was strong and Rodimus was strong too and I knew we would both make it through this.

When we arrived back on base, Rodimus was quickly hooked up to an energon machine while I along with First Aid who had recovered finally set to work repairing the damage that had been done, it was a relatively easy process and after an hour or so Rodimus was good as new and we just had to wait for him to wake from recharge. Springer and Ultra Magnus had arrived sometime obviously hearing about the attack and loss of Matrix and I was glad they were here, Rodimus or Hot Rod now would need all the support he could get when he woke and was informed that he no longer possessed the Matrix of leadership.

Currently, I was sitting next to the small berth Rodimus was lying on while Ultra Magnus, Springer, Kup, and Marissa stood by waiting for Hot Rod to wake up

"will he be alright?" Marissa asked

"difficult to say, Sundancer and First Aid did all they could so all we can do is wait" Ultra Magnus responded

"from your description, Dead End and Wild Rider made off with the Matrix" Springer added on and I tensed since I knew I could have probably have stopped them but I had chosen to help Marissa instead; I felt Kup place a comforting hand on my shoulder and knew they didn't blame me for the choice I had made but it hadn't made things easier.

"What does that mean? Is it of any use to the Decepticons?" Marissa asked, Kup placed his hands on his hips thinking

"that is hard to say also" he responded, all conversation stopped though as Hot Rod groaned making me jump a little before I felt relief in my spark as he groaned a little more

"he is waking" Marissa stated relived as I gently disconnected the machine so as Hot Rod sat up the wires fell off easily as he shook his head a little

"oh my head, what hit me" he mumbled to himself before noticing everyone in the room was staring at him with a mixture of concern and slight surprise.

"what hit you! Why are you all staring at me like you have seen a ghost?" Hot Rod asked as he swung his legs off the berth and I stood up to move out of the way as Ultra Magnus placed his hands on Hot Rod's shoulders; before Hot Rod had woken up we decided he would be the one to break the news to Hot Rod seeing as he was easily the most respected and outranked everyone else in the room.

"We have...Hot Rod" Ultra Magnus answered and surprise and a hint of relief was all over Hot Rod's face, honestly, I forgot how much younger and cuter he had looked before he had taken over leadership

"Hot Rod...?" Hot Rod trailed off relief was now more evident in his voice and I felt a slight anger rise in my spark; how could he be relieved that he was Hot Rod! Granted being a leader was hard work but it wasn't something to be relieved about when it gets stolen away from you.

"You no longer possess the Matrix" Ultra Magnus explained gently and instead of any sort of concern or anger at the Matrix no longer with him he seemed happy and really relaxed instead which only further fuelled the growing anger

"yeah you are right, I thought I felt something different" Hot Rod agreed as Springer joined the conversation

"how do you feel Roddy? strong enough to go after them?" Springer asked eager to get into gear and to retrieve the Matrix back from the Decepticons which was what everyone else was also ready to do so, however Hot Rod only stopped him from saying anything more by raising his hand

"wait a minute what is the rush?" Hot Rod asked, that set me off putting me at my boiling point, I had never felt such anger towards a fellow Autobot before but just how casually and unconcerned he was reacting about the Matrix had set something off and I could tell Kup had taken a step away from me obviously sensing my patience almost about to snap; if he said one more thing I didn't know if I could hold myself back from releasing all the frustration and anger.

"The Matrix is the essence of the Autobots, our link to our history and our future. Without it-" Ultra Magnus was cut off by Rodimus again

"aren't you getting a little carried away here? I'm still me, you are still you. Matrix shamtrix" Hot Rod retorted and I swear the room went silent as a snap was heard.

Everyone turned to me as I walked over to Magnus and Hot Rod very slowly as anger controlled all my functions, Ultra Magnus quickly stepped aside while Hot Rod wasn't sure how to gauge my reaction until I stopped right in front of him with my head lowered before I raised my hand and slapped him. The sound echoed leaving everyone in shock, after all I hadn't ever been angry nor violent towards any Autobot as I tended to prefer keeping the peace then starting a fight but I couldn't stop myself this time. Hot Rod had a look of slight hurt and shock on his face as I met his eyes, I felt angry tears start to leak bur didn't care

"you are the most selfish mech I have ever had the chance to meet! How dare you just dismiss the importance of the Matrix like it is nothing! You were chosen to be Prime's successor for a reason and the Matrix is the responsibility that comes with it. I get it, I know what it feels like to be pressured to be a great leader; hell I was groomed since I was a sparkling to rule my planet someday and so many times I wanted to run away from my duties and destiny but I didn't because I knew that it was my responsibility and I wasn't going to let my family and people down! I never got to experience the freedom like you did before you were forced into this leadership position but despite all the stress and pressure I never for a single second neglected my responsibility and neither should you! I mean listen to what you are saying for Primus's sake!" I yelled shaking in anger as I clenched my fists to stop myself from wanting to hit him again before I felt the tears continue to fall faster as I was now full out crying, the room was silent until I felt hands on my shoulders pulled me away from Hot Rod and allow me to cry on their shoulder as I calmed down from my rush of anger.

Hot Rod didn't say a single thing however it was hard to tell what he was feeling anymore since he had locked all his emotions away with a blank expression, I had finally calmed down enough and realized what I had did and became horrified but before I could apologize however it seemed Hot Rod had found his words again

"I know exactly what I am saying. I am telling you, all of you that I am sick of being responsible for the preservation of the universe and its outlining suburbs. Day in, day out. Punch this Decepticon, bash that Decepticon. What is the point! This has been going on for a few dozen millennia now and I don't see it changing do you?" Rodimus ranted but before anyone could say anything he continued

"you want the matrix back? Swell go get it, but find some other sucker to carry it!" Rodimus added before standing up and walking a few feet before transforming

"because I quit!" Rodimus finished before he drove off leaving a sinking hole in my spark.

Before anyone could say anything or stop me I transformed as well and took off after him, I had to apologize and make things right. Rodimus was on a self-destruct course and I wouldn't allow him to do this to himself no matter how much his words hurt; I hadn't had to follow him for too long as we once again found ourselves on the highway however this time I knew Rodimus knew I was following him since he made attempts to speed up but I wasn't going to let him get away not this time.

I pushed my alt to its max and managed to get close enough to him, I knew he wouldn't slow down for me to talk so there was only one other thing I could do even if it was risky; before I could freak myself out of my idea I rammed into his back causing him to swerve out of control while I transformed and jumped onto his truck form forcing him to transform as well as we rolled to the side of the road from the momentum and ended up with me pinning him down.

I was venting heavily from forcing myself to the limit as I stared down at Rodimus whose face switched between his emotions first it was angry, then shocked before it settled on something I couldn't quite identify. I focused on his face instead and I couldn't help but find myself admiring how blue his eyes were as I seemed to get lost in them completely forgetting the real reason why I even crashed into him in the first place.

I slowly loosened my grip on his arms being distracted, just enough for him to move them to wrap around my waist softly to keep me in place almost. The touch was enough to make me remember the position we were in and the whole reason we even ended up like this, I felt my face turn red as I let out a yelp and jumped off only to land on my aft while Hot Rod still laid there watching me now curious with only a small hint of anger.

I quickly recollected my thoughts as I turned to Hot Rod with a guilty and sad expression

"I am sorry for slapping you back there. I was out of line and I just...I couldn't stop myself. You were speaking like you didn't give a care and it just hurt me so much because if you couldn't care about your responsibility as a leader how could I be sure you even cared about the rest of us, especially with how harsh you were back there" I quickly apologized and carefully watched Hot Rod as he also sat up and looked up to the night sky which was slowly bleeding into the sunrise, he didn't say anything for a few minutes making me a little nervous that he wasn't going to accept it but then he spoke making me jump a little

"I am sorry as well, I shouldn't have spoken so carelessly about losing the Matrix like that. I forget you know what it's like almost to be pressured to fill someone else's shoes and how you must have the answer to everything" Rodimus apologized and I felt my face heat up at how sincere he was and quickly looked away to cool my face down before facing him again.

"We both made mistakes but we shouldn't dwell on them, it is too late to change what has happened to me and my people but it isn't too late for you to fix your mistake" I stated firmly and Rodimus turned to me a little surprised as I stood up and offered him my hand

"I think I know a place which might be able to help you see things from a better light, if you trust me" I added on and Rodimus took my hand as I helped him up and gave him a soft smile before transforming with him following suit. I quickly set my gps to our location before leading the way with Rodimus following.

It was late morning and I was feeling a little sleepy but I knew I couldn't focus on recharge, I had left Rodimus in the care of the master of the dojo and taken residence outside the building watching the beautiful sunrise before turning my attention to the people as they went about their day. I was actually relaced and feeling confident that Rodimus would get the advice he needed when my comm went off making me jump a little, I realised it was from Kup and quickly responded

 **\- Sundancer you read me? -** Kup requested

 **\- Yes Kup, go ahead-** I answered and I heard a sigh of relief over the comm

 **\- about time you responded, listen did you find Hot Rod? -** Kup asked urgently and I let my gaze wander to the dojo before deciding on how to answer

 **\- yes but he is busy at the moment, I'm leaving him be-** I responded not giving away what Hot Rod was actually doing and I heard Kup curse making me giggle a little since I rarely heard Kup use that language

 **\- alright well we need your help, we got a Decepticon armada approaching fast and need your fire power –** Kup explained and I knew despite wanting to stay here with Hot Rod I couldn't let the Decepticons get away with rampaging around the city either

 **\- message received Kup, I am on my way to assist –** I answered before closing my comm and looking around before spotting one of the students stepping outside to get a drink, I gestured them over before I knelt down so I could look at them easier.

"Could you pass a message to the Autobot inside for me?" I asked politely and the student nodded making me pleased

"tell him Kup informed me that the Decepticons are attacking the city and should he feel he is ready to re-join us we will be there" I relayed and the student nodded meaning he received the message and I thanked him politely before transforming into my alt mode and speeding off towards the city.

I arrived in time to see a horrendously ugly Scourge who looked like he somehow mutated as he shot Kup with a familiar energy that reminded me a lot of the matrix, as Kup struggled I scanned the energy around him and it matched up to the Matrix's signature which means Scourge's mutation came from the Matrix that the idiot had decided to insert into himself. Broadside had managed to grab the mutated scourge but before I could warn him of the danger Scourge had used the Matrix's energy to fry Broadside's circuits so Broadside quickly flung him aside.

I heard a scream and looked over to see Scourge had almost crushed an elderly woman so I hurried over to her and Scourge as she made a run for it taking shelter behind me as one of the students I recognised from the dojo actually had the guts to tell Scourge to back off, it would have been funny if I didn't have to grab the elderly lady and dodge the blast that Scourge took at us, the student ended up hacking at Scourge's leg and I couldn't help but giggle since the mutate scourge was getting his aft handed to him by a human no less. I refocused though as Scourge let out a yell of anger and the student ducked between his legs and quickly reached us before I hurried the two of them away protecting them from another blast from Scourge who gave chase to us.

I herded the humans around the corner only to realise it was a dead end and we were too far away from the other Autobots to get any assistance from them, the student was protecting the elderly lady as I tried to hide them from view with my legs as Scourge came around the corner. Each step he took towards us we backed up until we couldn't go no further, I tightened my grip on my blaster knowing I didn't stand a chance against this mutated Scourge but maybe I could buy enough time for the humans to get away; just as Scourge raised his hands to fire a blast at us there was a familiar sound of a car's engine as Scourge was sent flying forward and I barely had enough time to push myself and the human's against the wall to dodge him.

I felt great relief when Rodimus transformed and I could tell from how he held himself that whatever he did at the dojo had finally helped him realise what I knew all along about him

"Scourge!" Rodimus yelled as Scourge pulled himself up, the matrix half revealed due to the damage he received

"yes! And now you shall feel the destructive power of your own Matrix" Scourge challenged, Hot Rod looked a little surprised and I remembered he hadn't been in the loop about anything since we left last night

"the matrix did this to you?! Then I have to take it back, I see now that it is my obligation. I belong to it!" Rodimus responded as he shot Scourge in the chest multiple times which only knocked him around a little as Hot Rod also rotated keeping Scourge in front of him at all times

"just as it belongs to me!" Hot Rod finished as he dodged a shot from Scourge, I knew despite how much my processors and spark wanted to I couldn't interfere in this fight since this belonged to Hot Rod alone so I made sure the humans were protecting instead as they watched the battle unfold

"you must die!" Scourge yelled firing off multiple shots which missed leaving a wide opening which Hot Rod immediately took

"not today pal!" he responded as he shot Scourge again in the chest this time hitting just the right place causing Scourge to smoke as he was sent flying backwards landing on his back knocked out. Hot Rod quickly walked over and removed the Matrix from Scourge which reverted him back to his normal self before Hot Rod reinserted the Matrix back into his chest transforming him back into Rodimus who was a sight for sore eyes.

Rodimus turned to face us as I immediately leapt at him wrapping my arms around his neck as I hugged him, I felt his arms wrap around my waist as he pulled me closer and returned the hug, I was just so relieved that he was finally back to normal. I sighed happily as my spark thrummed with happiness at being so close to the one I had deep feelings for before I pulled away slightly to stare at his face which he returned. Just as I felt myself getting lost again I heard a cough and realised how close we were and jumped away from him shaking my head and avoiding eye contact while Rodimus laughed a little

"how about a lift home folks?" Rodimus offered as he transformed and the two humans climbed into his cab, I followed suit and transformed before we headed back towards where the others were still battling it out. Just as we arrived back at the battle the Decepticons had started to retreat as the Autobots continued to fire at them until they were gone for good, Rodimus let the humans out before we both transformed and I smiled at the others celebrating their victory

"looks like you did okay without me" Rodimus commented and the others turned relief and surprise was written all over their faces

"Hot Rod...I uh Rodimus?!" Ultra Magnus started and I had to hide the shock of Ultra Magnus not being able to form a sentence he was that surprised

"well son of a gun, found that missing part huh" Kup stated approving off Rodimus's choice and newfound confidence

"not just the Matrix Kup, a missing part of myself" Rodimus responded and I grinned as the others walked over to us

"that is the point son, no matter who carries the Matrix. That part you will never loose" Kup finished and I giggled so happy that everyone was back to normal again. I spotted Ultra Magnus who gave me a short smile and I knew he was thanking me for helping bring back Rodimus, the next words out of Kup though had my anger that I thought was a once off thing boiling back up

"you want to know what else is a part of ya or wants to be?" Kup questioned and Rodimus looked a little confused but nodded for Kup to continue

"sundac-" before Kup could finished his sentence I had picked up a rock and thrown it at Kup cutting him off as everyone turned to me to see I was about to rip Kup a new one who immediately held his hands up in surrender

"you know what never mind forget I said anything" Kup tried to save himself but it was too late as I started to walk towards him and he had the audacity to transform and drive off before I could get close enough to teach him a lesson about running his mouth. I scoffed before turning to the others who also immediately backed away in surrender making me roll my eyes before laughing at their reactions.

I really was glad everything was back to normal and I got to experience a whole new country and people; I would say despite everything the trip was pretty fun in the end.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh my gosh, this chapter I really enjoyed, I just had to include something in there before we did the final custom episode and finale. So there we go Sundancer understands her feelings now and has shown her new side to everyone; I feel only a little bad about making Kup the one who triggers Sundancer and teases her. Like with Rodimus, Kup has also taken Sundancer under his wing of sorts to take care of her since Elder isn't around a lot anymore.


	13. Memory Madness

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Final Custom episode before finale.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey Guys, this is the final chapter before the finale so this takes place after 'The Face of the Nijika' but before 'The Return of Optimus Prime'. This chapter contains the ultimate fluff of all)

**Location: ?, Cybertron**

I sighed as I partly shifted my arms to be more comfortable which were starting to ache under all the heavy equipment I had agreed to get for Perceptor so he didn't have to stop his important work regarding the strange rock that they had discovered during an exploration mission. The original purpose had to investigate the strange energon signals which had been first thought to be from a passing meteor but it turned out that the readings were actually coming from the rock on said meteor so they had brought it back to Perceptor's lab and since then he has been working non-stop to uncover its secrets; which is why I had volunteered to get all this heavy equipment for Perceptor which otherwise he would have done himself.

I groaned struggling with the weight as I made my way down the quiet hallway leading to Perceptor's lab, the quietness was nice considering everything that had been happening lately; Cybertron for a better word had been absolutely hectic.

There had been the increasing encounters with the Decepticons and Quintessons, the new Technobots especially First Aid required training which I had assisted with, then any spare time I did have was working alongside Perceptor researching the strange rock; all this meant I hadn't had any free time in over a week, this resulted in besides Perceptor and the occasional patient I hadn't seen anyone else in a week and I was for the better word feeling really lonely.

I missed hanging with Wheelie and Blurr, I hadn't visited Mirage and Jazz in quite some time and hell I even miss the training sessions with Arcee; the worst of it all was I hadn't seen Rodimus either which had been giving me spark pains since I finally acknowledge I had feelings for him. I had finally figured it out after the whole incident in Japan, I knew I had felt something special for him that was different to everyone else but I hadn't quite placed it properly till the moment I actually raised my hand to him; that was the moment I felt my spark truly break and I realised just how important he was to me; I was just glad he had forgiven me after all that and found himself again.

I groaned again as I attempted to shift my arms again as I turned the corner only to bump into something and I refocused in front of me and felt my spark do happy flips, Rodimus was looking at me with a smile as he took the heavier items and I felt a great relief as my burden was lifted and I could actually see properly now.

"Thank you" I thanked softly since I was trying to get my emotions in check to try and hide my growing blush

"it's my pleasure" Rodimus responded as he fell in step beside me as we walked back to Perceptor's lab in a comfortable silence, during which I was trying to think of anything to talk about but was drawing blanks; all too soon we arrived at Perceptor's lab and I opened the door since I had the lighter load.

Perceptor barely looked up at us as I directed Rodimus where to put the equipment before I deposited the data pads and paper work on my small table to be sorted at a later date when I actually had the energy to do it, I rubbed my optics trying to recall when the last I had a decent meal and recharge; I had been too busy trying to relax my eyes that I jumped when I felt Rodimus wrap an arm around my waist. I know it wasn't appropriate but I was too tired to care and my emotion circuits had taken full control at the moment from how close he was.

"Perceptor, I'm taking Sundancer to get her some energon alright" Rodimus informed Perceptor who still hadn't looked up from the data pad only nodding as the only indicator that he even heard Rodimus before Rodimus softly pulled me towards the door which opened on its own before we exited the lab and walked back the way we came. I just allowed him to keep his arm around me as I rested my head slightly on his side, this was not appropriate at all giving our ranks and we are not bonded but he didn't say anything against it and I was too tired to care about protocols too much.

We entered the common room, Rodimus directed me to sit on one of the empty couches before he walked over to the dispensers and after a minute or so he came back with a cube which he passed to me before taking a seat next to me

"thank you again, you didn't have to do this but I appreciate it very much" I stated as I took small sips of my energon enjoying how it made me feel a lot better and a lot more awake, Rodimus gave me a smile before relaxing back in the couch facing me

"so how have you been?" Rodimus asked as I gave him a soft smile

"busy, lots of patients plus Perceptor thinks this rock could be a clue to some big energy source" I answered lightly which seemed to break the ice as afterward we made light conversation which turned into teasing and jokes until we were both laughing like a pair of younglings, we had been having too much fun since neither of us heard the door open until we heard a familiar cough and froze turning to see Ultra Magnus with a neutral expression.

"Sorry Rodimus, but your needed in the control room" Ultra Magnus apologised which I felt was more directed to me then Rodimus and I heard Rodimus sigh before getting up

"Sorry could we talk more later?" he suggested and all I could do was nod before he followed Ultras Magnus out of the common room leaving me alone again.

I sighed as I finished my cube quickly before throwing it away and heading back to the labs feeling ready to finally get back to work.

When I entered Perceptor's lad, I became really confused since Arcee, Blurr and Wheelie were also now in the room watching Perceptor, Wheelie noticed me first and hopped off the table before speed walking over to me so I picked him up giving him a much needed hug before I carried him back over to Perceptor's table and set him back down on it, Arcee gave me a warm smile which I returned before Blurr gave me a welcoming pat on the shoulder and I smiled even more; spending time with Rodimus was nice but I was even happier to finally spend time with the 3 of them as well.

"So why are you guys even here anyways?" I questioned curious on why they would come to one of the most boring places on Cybertron

"because while you were out I think I finally cracked the secret behind this strange rock and I figured since they helped discover it they should also bear witness to whatever the rock is hiding" Perceptor explained, I blinked before accepting the reasoning.

"now after a lot of testing I believe this rock could contain traces of a new energon source which would give us a cleaner alternative way of producing energon" Perceptor explained as he picked up a little hammer and began to tap the rock slightly, we waited quietly but after a minute I began to smell something different in the air, I looked around the room trying to figure out where the smell was coming from until I heard a clang as I turned back to see Wheelie had fallen unconscious with Arcee and Blurr also slumped over on the floor

"what the-" was the last thing I heard which I'm sure came from Perceptor as I felt the gas shut down my systems before I felt myself being put into a forced recharge as darkness consumed me.

**No one's POV**

As Sundancer slumped the floor, the rock began to hover and grew in size until 5 tentacles like arms came from it as each one picked up a knocked out transformers before it went straight through the wall leaving a massive hole and took off into the night sky, the rock floated through space before it approached a corkscrew spaceship which opened its hatch as the rock entered before dropping the 5 transformers on the ground before it vanished from existence since it's job was done.

A Quintesson looked down at the 5 transformers quite happy with the selected ones before ordering some of the Sharkticons to place them on the beds to begin the reprogramming, this time the Quintesson was sure this plan wouldn't fail. It shouldn't after all with all the observations that have been done, the one weakness of the Autobots is that they would do everything in their power to protect one of their own so if 5 of their most trusted members turned against them, it would definitely cause enough chaos for the plan to succeed and then Cybertron would be theirs again.

**Her POV**

I slowly opened my optics as I tried to recall why my head hurt so much and yet every time I tried to think it felt like I was missing something important but I couldn't quite figure out what since it hurt too much. I sat up and looked around, I felt a great relief seeing that my friends were nearby and were also coming back online, I waited as they gathered their bearings before sitting up as well and looking over at me

"Ugh my head really hurts. Sundancer what happened?" Arcee asked and I could only shrug

"I have no clue, I can't remember anything it is like there is a block of some sorts" I responded quietly while Wheelie was staring at the strange red symbol on his chest, Perceptor was rubbing his head and Blurr was shifting into a protective stance as footsteps approached the door. We didn't move as the door opened until a being that floated on energy entered flanked by a few guards who looked like robotic sharks, I racked my brains to figure out why they looked so familiar when there was a click almost and I felt everything come back to me; I heard mutterings from my friends and knew that their memories must have been unblocked too. I turned to the Quintesson and the Sharkticons

"you saved us...?" I questioned softly since I wasn't too sure my memories were accurate enough to fully trust them, they just didn't seem to be right, the Quintesson changed faces before responding

"yes I saved you from your kidnappers, I am sorry it took so long to save you from those cruel Autobots" the Quintesson answered, I heard Blurr growl almost at the word Autobots and I turned to see Arcee and Wheelie looking angry as well

"thosedangAutobotsdidsomethingtousdidn'tthey!" Blurr quickly demanded and the Quintesson nodded

"yes, they had messed with your memories making you think they you were one of them when in all reality they had forcibly taken you from me and reformatted you. But thankfully I finally tracked your location down and was able to reverse the damage" the Quintesson answered, I nodded accepting his response but yet something deep in my spark was begging me to wake up and to not believe the lies but I didn't understand what it meant by lies so I ignored the tiny voice and focused on our saviour.

"So what now? You have saved us from our kidnappers and yet I feel so confused on what is supposed to happen now" I stated having a hard time to explain why I felt so strange, the Quintesson gently touched my arm with one of its tentacles and everything inside me wanted to curl away or even smack it off me and yet my body didn't respond

"what is now going to happen is that you 5 will finally complete your original mission that had been put on hold since you got kidnapped" the Quintesson started but was cut off by Wheelie who had hopped off his bed and walked over to mine; instinctively I reached down and picked him up before putting him in my lap comfortably. It just felt right to do so, so I didn't move him.

"As I was saying, you 5 will infiltrate Cybertron, you need to go 18 floors down where there will be a small sealed off room. Inside the room will be a switch, once activated there will be a 5-minute timer. That is how long you have to get off the planet before it explodes, now I do have a device that will transport you right back to the ship but it will only work if all 5 of you are together. If you are successful, you will be saving the universe from the horrible Autobots and help bring peace to it" the Quintesson explained as a Sharkticon held out a small ball to me and I carefully took it as I rolled it around in my hands curiously while thinking over everything the Quintesson had explained.

"Alright when do we leave?' Perceptor asked politely, he sounded like he wanted to say something more but obviously didn't want to say anything around the Quintesson

"you shall be leaving as soon as you feel up to the task" the Quintesson curtly responded before he left the room leaving the 5 of us to gather our thoughts before the mission

"something doesn't feel right, I don't know how to explain it but I don't feel normal" Perceptor explained, I nodded agreeing since my head did feel strange and all these horrible memories of the Autobots just didn't feel right

"you seemed to be right Perceptor, but what are we going to do. The Quintesson did rescue us and he did explain we were on the mission when we were kidnapped, the Autobots probably did something and despite the Quintesson saying he reversed the effects these are probably just the side effects" Arcee reasoned, she made a good point so we mutually agreed to carry out our original mission even if we did feel something was not right about any of it. The Quintesson re-entered the room after a few moments and was pleased to see we were up and ready to go, he leads us to a small teleportation room which will put us right back to where we got rescued

"try and act natural otherwise they will not let you out of sight" the Quintesson warned and we nodded as he activated the teleporter and I felt lightweight before feeling the harsh cold floor.

I grunted a little as I pulled myself off the floor, I realised we were back in Perceptor's lab, there was a giant hole in the wall that must have been from when we were rescued; seeing as Perceptor couldn't remember the door code we exited via the giant hole and the moment we stepped outside we were surrounded by Autobots.

Springer, Kup, Rodimus, Ultra Magnus and even Wreckgar approached us concerned and relief all over their faces which made the whole evil Autobots thing seem even more confusing since those were not normal reactions an evil person would have

"what happened? There was a blast and something took off and you guys were all missing" Rodimus asked although his eyes never left me, I didn't show it but I could feel my spark twitched in excitement and happiness before it tried to fight for control but lost instantly

"the rock we were examining turned out to be a bomb so we blasted it into space" I lied smoothly with a convincing poker face. I was pleased that the others seemed to accept my explanation although Rodimus was now looking at me oddly, I also noted that Springer was giving Arcee strange looks as she ignored him completely and focused on quietly conversing with Blurr; this was bad and I knew we needed a distraction before Springer and Rodimus became more suspicious

"hey um, why don't we go to the common room and get some energon. Whatever that bomb did to us really drained me" I quickly suggested, I felt my spark writhing as if it was being tortured with all this lying and being evasive but whatever was done to my memories had also put a damper on whatever my spark felt so I wasn't effected as much.

Rodimus nodded at the suggestion and we all walked to the common room where I helped get the energon for everyone before we all sat down and the 5 of us explained that the bomb had drained us and before we fell unconscious, Perceptor had managed to blast it into space. It also somehow cloaked us which was why when they checked the lab they couldn't see us lying on the floor, it was a convincing lie and I was glad Rodimus and Springer were not so suspicious even though Arcee still wasn't talking to Springer she did answer his questions which seem to make him happy at least.

Finally, the others had to return to their duties but the 5 of us were given time off so we could recover from our whole ordeal which I thought it was sweet until my memories forcibly reminded me that Rodimus was a manipulator so I refocused on our mission. Once the door closed we waited a minute before relaxing

"that was close I thought they would never leave" Perceptor mentioned quietly looking around cautiously still

"do you think we fooled them?" Wheelie asked from my shoulder and I shook my head which reminded me of something

"Arcee you were ignoring Springer too much, you should be careful of that" I warned, Arcee nodded although seemed to be conflicted in what she remembered and felt

"itseemssafenowshallweproceedwiththemission?" Blurr questioned and I nodded standing up

"let's go now while they are occupied" I added, we quickly left the common room making out way to the older part of Cybertron where the entrance to the tunnels was located. We were only halfway when the alarms started to sound and I had a good feeling when had been figured out. We picked up speed however the sounds of jets stopped us as the 5 aerial bots cut us off and surrounded us in a circle, we each pulled out our weapons ready to fight our way out

"stop right where you are, we don't want to hurt you but we will if we have to" Silverbolt ordered so I subspace my blaster and held my hands up in surrender with a soft smile indicating I was surrendering before taking slow steps towards Silverbolt, who had lowered his guard thinking I was actually surrendering. Just as I was within his reaching distance, Air Raid must have figured me out because he started to yell at me to stop right where I was but I didn't I just kept my soft smile which kept Silverbolt from actually moving, then within a flash I had pulled my blaster out of my subspace and whipped Silverbolt in the head effectively knocking him out.

This was the signal my friends needed as they also quickly took out the other aerial bots, we didn't get to make any more progress after that though because Rodimus and the others had caught up and now were in our way; these Autobots were actually starting to get real annoying now.

"Move before we shoot you" Arcee threatened as she aimed her blaster right at Springer's chest making him look hurt and shocked before he stepped forward slowly mimicking how I caught Silverbolt off guard so easily. I tensed but didn't stop him because I knew the moment I did I would be subdued so I had to let this play out

"please Arcee, something is wrong let us help" Springer requested softly as he was now within reaching distance of her which made her blaster touch his chest,

this action caused her to falter which was all they needed and in a blink Springer had wrapped his arms around her effectively locking her arms and held her tight, Wreckgar managed to grab Blurr and restrain him as well.

Rodimus had managed to also grab me but before he could properly secure me, Wheelie appeared from nowhere and threw his gun at Rodimus's face which loosened his grip enough for me to pull away, I quickly twirled around and shot Ultra Magnus in the leg causing freeing Perceptor, I grabbed Perceptor's hand and the three of us took off for the tunnels; we didn't like that we had to abandon Blurr and Arcee but there was nothing we could do to help them now except complete our mission so we carried on.

**No one's POV**

As they regathered themselves from the sudden attack, they looked at the two struggling controlled Autobots

"Youwon'tcapturethem, wewilldestroyallevilAutobots. Theyaregoingtogettotheswitchandthewholeplanetisgoingtobedestroyed" Blurr taunted quickly, Rodimus blinked trying to piece together what Blurr actually said before ordering the back up to make sure they were restrained under heavy guard till they could figure out what the hell had happened.

"Something has to be wrong with their memory processors, the most peaceful Autobots turning violent is not normal" Kup stated thinking deeply and also a little shaken up at seeing Sundancer turn violent so quickly while Ultra Magnus nodded wincing as he put weight on his damaged leg

"indeed, they must have had their memory chips reprogrammed to think we are the bad guys." Ultra Magnus concluded, meanwhile Rodimus had been thinking about what Blurr was boasting about as he slowed the words down in his processor before he finally understood why Blurr was boasting

"oh god, Blurr said they were going to kill all evil Autobots by pulling a switch to blow the planet up" Rodimus explained before quickly ordering Kup and Wreckgar to follow him while Ultra Magnus was to help with the security of Blurr and Arcee.

It only took a few minutes of Kup scanning the tunnels until he finally picked up their signatures and proceeded to lead the way down into the tunnels quickly since the 3 already had a massive head start over them, they were hoping they were not too late to stop whatever plan the 3 were trying to pull off and that they wouldn't have to hurt their friends.

**Her POV**

We arrived at the sealed door, exactly like how the Quintesson had described it. Perceptor and I quickly made quick work of melting the door off, Wheelie tensed at my feet starring down the tunnel from which we came from

"they are catching up fast" he warned as we doubled our efforts to get inside the blasted room before they stopped us; finally, the door fell down just as the tell-tale sound of running footsteps were heard. We hurried into the room, Perceptor gestured to the machine and I knew they would hold them off while I started the sequence, there was something shiny in the machine so I pulled it out realising it was the cancellation key and quickly subspace it before I started to input the code into the machine just as I heard the Autobots arrive; I turned to see Perceptor and Wheelie open fire on the 3 Autobots who quickly dodged. I looked back at the machine as my hand ghosted over the activation button, something was stopping me from pressing it and I couldn't handle the war that was going on inside of me between my processor and spark; I turned back around to see Perceptor and Wheelie get subdued and knocked out.

This set of a rage inside of my processor, before I could even give second thoughts I pushed the button hard activating the machine before turning to face the Autobots a grin slowly making its way on my face as they looked at me

"you might have knocked them out but your too late" I stated and tried to fight the urge to cancel it at the looks of horror and disappointment on their faces when they realised I had already activated the machine. I grabbed the piece of piping that was against the machine, I felt a rage build up inside of me and my eyes locked onto Rodimus who seemed to be the main cause for all the conflict in my spark; I dashed forward with no warning and jumped at Rodimus planning to stab him with the piping. He managed to dodge to the side but I wasn't going to let him get away and started to swing at him aggressively, all I could think about was wanting him gone so I would no longer feel the conflict that rage within me.

In the corner of my eye I noticed Ultra Magnus about to get involved before Kup said something which changed his mind and they hurried to the machine, this made me laugh there was no way to stop it. Only I had the key to cancel the machine and I had no intentions of stopping it since my mission was so closed to being completed, I continued to swing at Rodimus who had only been dodging make me even more furious that he wouldn't fight back; I kept making him back up until his back hit the doorway. I moved forward to end it now that he was trapped but he dodged and ducked out of the room, into the slightly darker hallways; I narrowed my eyes he was not going to escape me, he needed to die to end this suffering in my spark.

I stepped into the hallway looking around cautiously, I couldn't see him though; I growled and was about to start walking towards the way out when a hand suddenly reached out grabbing my wrist that held the pipe tightly before it was yanked away and thrown somewhere into the darkness. I didn't get a proper chance to react though since I found myself harshly shoved against the wall, my other wrist was now also trapped and they hurt like hell from the tight grip on them that only got tighter as I struggled to get away.

"Sundancer this isn't you listen to me" Rodimus pleaded but I pretended I didn't hear him as I kept struggling eventually managing to free my leg allowing me to kick him the side making him let go

"stop trying to fool me, you must die so I will no longer be conflicted!" I yelled as Rodimus moved forward to try and subdue me again but I wasn't an idiot so I withdrew my trusty laser knife from my subspace pocket, I immediately went to stab him and almost got him except he managed to jump back just in time. I was over this cat and mouse game so I tackled him to the floor harshly and proceed to try and tried to stab him but he grabbed my arm stopping me from ending his life right there, I put all my weight into trying to push the knife into his chest but I neglected to make sure I had him pinned down properly and he used the advantage to roll us over in the process knocking the knife out of my hand causing it to skid away along the floor.

He now had me completely pinned down and subdued underneath him, for some reason it made me feel too tired to struggle anymore so I just laid there staring into his optics as he was breathing heavily from holding back from actually hurting me, the way he looked at me seemed to break down damper on my spark and I felt all my emotions flood me at once and realised now that my memories and processors had been tampered with; I felt tears build up in my optics

"help me I can't control myself. My emotions, everything hurts. Make it stop!" I begged, I felt whatever had tampered with my processors fighting back again and tensed up as I once again was about to fall under the reprogramming. Rodimus must have realised what was happening, because what he did next shocked me to the core, as I felt the reprogramming take over I felt something soft against my lips; I immediately tensed before realising that Rodimus was actually kissing me. I felt my spark used the shock to push forward against the reprogramming, this effectively caused my systems to glitch and overload and before I could even consider the situation everything went black.

I rebooted and blinked my optics as I took in the situation I was in, I realised that Rodimus had me pinned down causing me to blush as I shoved him off quickly before scooting away from him clutching my overreacting spark. I was confused on where I was and why Rodimus had even had me pinned down in a dark hallway

"Rodimus...why were you pinning me down? Where am I?" I asked quietly, Rodimus looked surprised before he regathered himself and gave me a gentle smile that had me relaxing instantly

"you don't remember?" he asked softly and I shook my head before spotting my laser knife, I blinked before reaching out to grab it, the moment I did however I remembered everything that had taken place in the last 2 minutes and felt myself start to cry. Immediately I heard someone moving to my side and jumped a little as Rodimus touched my shoulder lightly

"oh god! I tried to kill you and... everything is fuzzy and it hurts to think!" I tried to explain as I clutch my head trying to make sense on why my body, processor and spark all wanted different things. Very softly my hands there removed from my head and I looked at Rodimus who gave me a determined look

"it's alright we can talk about it all later, but right now you need to stop the machine okay?" Rodimus firmly told me, I nodded recognising it as an order as he helped me up before we re-entered the room, Kup and Ultra Magnus were surprised but I could tell they were relieved. I ran over to the machine to see that there was only 30 seconds left as I tried to remember what needed to be done, I fiddled with my subspace before pulling out a tiny key of sorts, I then noticed the tiny circular hole that looked like the key might fit in so I pushed the key in and the machine made a noise before stopping at 10 seconds.

I heard sounds of relief, I turned to smile at them before I felt something slam shut and my reprogramming take over instantly as I realised what I had done and let out an angry snarl furious that I had failed my mission and my friends

"damn she is back under again, quick knock her out too!" Kup stated as I felt something hard hit the pressure point at my neck before I blacked out.

**No one's POV**

Rodimus caught Sundancer's limp form and carefully shifted her so he was carrying her bridal style and her head was resting against her chest, something rolled out from her subspace but he wasn't focused on it letting Kup pick it up since he was too busy fighting his urge to touch her face knowing now wasn't the time to show such feelings especially since she and the others were still under the effects of whatever was done to their memories and processors. Kup and Ultra Magnus looking at the bruises and dents Rodimus recieved from when Sundancer had attacked him but he shook his head

"I am okay, let's just get out of here. Once this mess is fixed up we will have this area sealed off permanently" Rodimus stated before exiting the room as Ultra Magnus and Kup carried Perceptor and Wheelie out as well.

It didn't take them long to reach the surface where a medical team was waiting who quickly took the 3 away under the escort of Wreckgar, Blaster and a few others, knowing that Sundancer was in safe hands Rodimus headed to the control room where he would be updated on the findings regarding Arcee and Blurr. It was a quick walk to the control room and Rodimus was relieved to see Springer there with a data pad

"I'm guessing because we are all still in one piece you managed to stop them?" Springer asked

"well Perceptor and Wheelie were easily dealt with. Sundancer knocked Rodimus around for a little bit but she seemed to come back long enough to cancel the machine so yeah I guess technically we did stop them" Kup answered, Springer nodded before looking at the pad before back at us again

"as suspected, Arcee and Blurr's memories were replaced and their processors were reprogrammed. I would assume this is the same for the others, if you said Sundancer came back briefly it meant that despite the reprogramming their sparks were fighting back which was most likely why I was able to get Arcee to stand down. This means that the damage can be undone but we cannot start until we get their original memories back" Springer explained

"the next question is who did this and how do we get to them to get their memories back" Ultra Magnus added and the room was quiet until Kup pulled out the object that had rolled out of Sundancer's subspace. It was a small metallic ball of sorts with very familiar symbols

"it is some sort of teleportation device, I'm guessing which would send them right back to whoever did this to them, and I got a pretty good idea who did this too" Rodimus stated anger laced through his voice before turning to Springer

"take the Dinobots and the device and go get their original memories back, they are not going to get away with this" Rodimus firmly ordered and Springer nodded the same type of anger was obvious in his optics but he hid it well as he took the device from Kup before leaving to grab the Dinobots. Now it was a waiting game until Springer returned with the missing memories, Rodimus sighed tiredly; this job was going to be the death of him.

**Her POV**

I slowly felt my systems coming back online slowly, I opened my optics to see the creamy white roof of a recovery room; I slowly sat up as the blanket pooled at my waist as I tried to recollect what had even happened to me. Almost as if a dam broke, everything that had happened before I had come back online had flooded my mind except for a large blank gap that started right after I activated the machine and ended after I deactivated it so anything in between I couldn't for the life of me recall and it was off putting. I tensed as I heard the door to the room open but relaxed almost instantly seeing it was Rodimus, he spotted me awake and a relived look crossed his face before he walked over and stood next to the berth I was on

"I'm glad your finally awake, how are you feeling?" he started, I blinked at him before a soft smile settled on my face

"I am feeling okay, how are the others? I mean I don't know what happened to Arcee and Blurr but Wheelie and Perceptor weren't hurt were they?" I asked and Rodimus shook his head making me relived.

"Neither of them are hurt, everyone is okay and back to normal almost. They are really worried about you, they woke up yesterday and almost stormed your room if it wasn't for Ultra Magnus standing guard" Rodimus explained and I let out a small giggle

"even Perceptor?" I asked thinking about how the scientist tried to be serious and respectful

"Yup, he was a lot calmer about it though but he did try to get in. Wheelie almost made it but alas Blurr gave him away accidently" Rodimus answered and I giggled again before removing the blanket and swinging my legs over so now they were hanging off the berth. Rodimus took half a step back to give me room as I hopped down and wobbled almost instantly but Rodimus gently grabbed my upper arm keeping me stable, I gave him a thankful look as I took small steps waiting for my systems to recalibrate my balance.

After a few minutes of walking in a line while Rodimus observed ready to catch me I felt confident I could handle walking in the hallways

"Alright I think I am ready to re-join society" I joked lightly and was pleased with the small chuckle I got as Rodimus opened the door for me which I thanked gracefully before we walked down the hallway to the common room where the others were waiting. It was a peaceful silence that made me relax that I barely gave second thoughts when Rodimus gently took my hand in his, I merely gave his hand a light squeeze that I did notice what he did before focusing back on my memories, I really wanted to know what happened in that blank time frame but at the same time if it was left blank something very bad must have happened that they were trying to protect me from so I decided I wouldn't ask about it for now; all too soon we arrived at the common room and Rodimus let go of my hand as he entered with me right on his heels pushing aside the slight sadness I had when he let go.

The moment I entered I was immediately assaulted by two people, one was pink and the other was small and orange, I smiled happily as I hugged Wheelie close to me before hugging Arcee; she then stepped aside with Wheelie allowing Perceptor to also give me a hug while Blurr rubbed my shoulder. I rolled my eyes as Perceptor walked back to his seat before pulling Blurr into a hug, Blurr relaxed instantly and returned it, I knew he didn't do hugs much but at the same time I knew he needed it just as much as I did. Once he let go, I was lead to an open spot on the couch that was between Rodimus and Blurr, the moment I sat down Wheelie was in my lap lounging like it was his own personal couch making me giggle a little before accepting the energon Perceptor gave me and took small sips grateful to have something on my stomach.

"so what have I missed?" I asked and everyone told me bits and pieces, I was very pleased to hear the Dinobots trashed the Quintesson ship and jettison the said Quintesson into deep space, Ultra Magnus informed me that the others already explained the situation so I wouldn't have to relive the details which I was grateful for, after that everyone was making light chatter when Kup who had been quiet for a while smiled facing Rodimus on the opposite couch

"what is up Kup?" I asked turning everyone's attention to him, he merely waved his hand dismissively

"not much just wondering something" he responded and I was curious since Kup rarely wonders on something

"and what would that be?" Springer asked and if possible Kup's smile grew almost as if he had some sort of reveal

"oh I am just wondering just how on earth did Rodimus bring Sundancer back to reality long enough to shut down the machine, you two weren't in the room at the time so only you two would know" Kup responded, the room was silent until I started to couch choking on the energon I had been drinking while Blurr pat my back but most attention was on Rodimus who had tense before relaxing, a very childish look on his face

"I have my ways that is all you need to know" Rodimus explained a smirk slightly on his face as the others laughed while I sat there confused missing out on the inside joke. Blurr pat my shoulder reassuringly so I knew it wasn't bad so I joined in as well feeling so happy that I had my family here and that after everything that has happened that would have torn us apart we still could laugh and enjoy each other's presence.

I instantly thought of Elder and a pang went through my chest thinking of my deceased creator, while most would be heavily distraught over it, Sestraians were different in that regard. When a love one, guardian or creator passes we do not feel the bond break because it never actually does, we believe that just because they are no longer there in physical form doesn't mean they are not always with us and watching over us. It is that belief that keeps me going whenever I think of Elder, Ace or any of my people because I know no matter where they are or how far apart we are from each other, we will always love each other and that is why Sestraian bonds are the strongest bonds out there because they never break.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There we go the final chappie before the finale and completion of this story. I enjoyed this very much and while it hasn't been very long it was nice to write it. I felt bad that Elder wasn't included much after 'The Finest Things' but I knew he no longer served a purpose in the story since he no longer has to protect and raise Sundancer as she is now capable to look after herself. 
> 
> I think it is a sweet thing that while Sundancer might not be overly distraught of a bond breaking, she still holds onto it knowing that Elder will never ever truly leave her. In regards to the blank spot in her memories, can you guess who wanted it put in place? And no it wasn't Rodimus.


	14. The return of Optimus Prime

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Final chapter guys. Yay!

**Location: ?, Cybertron**

It was quiet, too quiet; as much as I loved the silence it still didn't compare to when my friends were here. I mean yeah sure there were some other Autobots here but I didn't know them well enough to actually want to spend time with them, which meant I spent my break alone watching the few stars you could see with an energon cube as my company, once I finished my cube I remained in my spot for another 5 minutes before deciding it was time to get back to work.

I was heading back to the security control room since my break was over, with everyone either on missions or on Earth trying to retrieve Optimus's body from the humans I was left in charge of almost the whole planet. I was personally glad that the Decepticons didn't realise how weakly guarded Cybertron was at the current moment, I stopped when I heard the sounds of yelling, normally I would ignore the occasional petty disagreements and just comm Kup to have someone come down and deal with it but since he wasn't here I would have to handle this myself.

As I got closer I realised there were more voices and they were sounding more aggressive than usual, I crept along the wall and slowly peeked around the corner covering my mouth so the small gasp of shock wasn't heard; there were 3 transformers duking it out like they were trying to actually kill each other. I noted immediately that they were a bright angry red and wondered if perhaps that had anything to do with their sudden aggressive nature, freaking out I slowly backed away as I tried to comm Kup about having a major security breech but all I got was static; I tried the other's comms as well once again getting nothing but static.

I was on the verge of freaking out until I felt the calming presence of someone I missed terribly so, the distraction was enough to help clear the panic from my thought processor and allowed me to think clearly, that was when I realised if I had freaked out I would have alerted the infected transformers and I didn't want to know what they would do to me if I got caught. Backing up quietly, I knew that there was only one place I could go to get the answers I would need so I turned on my heel and slowly tiptoed away before breaking out into a full sprint when I felt confident enough I was away from the infected transformers.

Once I reached the control room I quickly locked the door and dived into the chair pulling up a direct link to the Earth channel, I knew hacking my way into Earth's stations wasn't exactly legal but I had no other choices and desperate times calls for desperate measures. Once I was through I pulled up the first news feed and was horrified at the scenes it showed, everywhere humans, animals and even a few Autobots were duking it out exactly like those transformers from the hallway.

I listened in as the news lady reported that it was a rage virus of sorts that affects anyone instantly if they get touched, everyone was being warned to take shelter immediately and avoid major cities and infected individuals, I jumped when there were bangs on the door behind me causing me to jump out of the chair and pull my blaster out, I was trapped with them trying to break down the only way in or out, I turned to the large glass wall behind me; there was another way but it would hurt a lot which wasn't something I really wanted to do but it was either that or become infected.

Taking a deep breath, I climbed onto the consoles keep a tight hold of my blaster as the door made a clang behind me making me yelp, I didn't bother to turn around to see them piling in, I just shot the window causing it to shatter, a few shards actually nicked my armour but I couldn't worry about that now before jumping straight out. I landed on my side with a yell of pain dropping my blaster in the process before my fight-or-flight response kicked in as I dragged myself painfully to my feet and started sprinting away not caring that I lost my gun, I dared myself to look behind me to see the infected transformers had actually followed me through the broken window and were in pursuit.

I opened my comm to the public channel, I knew it didn't work last time but maybe there were others out here not infected so I quickly requested assistance once again only receiving static, if I wasn't running for my life I would be more then unnerved by the radio silence that was everywhere, I felt scared and hopeless. Everyone I knew was missing or infected and I had no clue, I was starting to consider that maybe running was pointless and it be easier to just join the infected ranks. Suddenly I heard a familiar voice which made me leap for joy

"Duck!" the voice ordered and I followed no hesitation as I heard the sound of blaster fire hit behind me. I turned around to see that the infected had been knocked back before whipping my head around again to see SkyLinx hovering with his door open

"hurry aboard Sundancer! That won't keep them down for too long" SkyLinx ordered, he didn't need to tell me twice as I scrambled into SkyLinx's carrier before the door closed and he took off. I collapsed on the floor as my cooling fans kicked in holding my side as I allowed my flight-or-fight programming to deactivate which of course allowed me to feel all the nicks and the bruising I knew my side was now sporting

"I am so glad to see you SkyLinx" I wheezed as I tenderly removed my dented armouring from my side before pulling out a pain killer from my subspace and injecting it into my side

"me too as well, If Rodimus hadn't pointed out that someone from Cybertron had hacked into the Earth stations I never would have stopped by here to see if there were any survivors. When I got close enough I heard your repeated request for help over the public comms so I did my duty and rescued you. There is no need to thank me" SkyLinx explained as I rolled my eyes playfully at his usual overconfidence before feeling the pain dull as I reattached my armour plating and stood up.

"So what is going on? Why is everyone acting like crazed maniacs" I asked taking a seat at the front console, I only half paid mind to the fact we were heading into deeper parts of space

"Well I wasn't there to witness what happened but from the little information I know the humans who had Optimus's body had taken some spores which they found on their ship which would cause whatever was infected to go into a burst of rage, while infected they only think of two things fighting and spreading the infection. Kup, Wheelie and the others went missing after they were dispatched to deal with the infected gestalts while Rodimus was going to shut down Metroplex after he sent me to find a Quintesson who could bring Optimus back. I am afraid I don't know much more than that, hopefully once we return to Metroplex Rodimus will fill in the missing gaps" SkyLinx explained

"so basically everyone we know are going to try and infect us or beat our heads in? And our only hope is the Quintessons who have tried to kill us many times?" I summarised, I heard a quiet agreement from SkyLinx that made me roll my eyes

"God this is a fragged situation" I huffed quietly in my seat before remaining silent as I mulled over all the facts, I didn't like the situation or the fact we were going to require the Quintesson's help but if Rodimus believed a Quintesson was our only hope I would trust him that he was making the right choice.

We travelled in solitary silence, finally we approached a metallic planet. It obviously was one of the Quintesson's new hideouts which made me tense but I took a deep breath and pushed those negative thoughts aside since now was definitely not the time to be thinking negatively. We spotted a fleeing Quintesson who was running away from infected Sharkticons, SkyLinx opened the door and I leaned out to talk to the Quintesson

"hey Quintesson, we have a proposition if you are interested" I stated, the Quintesson was frantic and not amused

"let me in please" it begged, I mentally rolled my eyes just because I tended to be nice didn't mean I would forgive the Quintesson's for everything they have done to me and my friends

"we will let you aboard if you agree to save our friend's life" I bargained, the Quintesson didn't even hesitate

"I'll do it!" they responded, with this response I reached out and grabbed one of the thin tentacles and yanked the Quintesson on board, just in time too since the infected Sharkticons had reached to touch where he just was. SkyLinx door closed as he took off on a direct course back to earth.

Once the adrenaline had worn off, I had explained to the Quintesson the plan of sorts and while he wasn't on board, he agreed if only we would offer protective from the infected which I agreed too even if I couldn't stand his species. The ride back to earth was silent leaving me with my thoughts, I desperately wanted to know that Rodimus was okay and what had happened to all my friends that had been missing since they tried to stop the gestalts, I felt a wave of despair wash over me when I thought about Rodimus which made me terrified that he had been infected and I could only hope that he was still safe and waiting for us.

**Location: Milky Way, Earth**

Our landing was silent, we disembarked looking around the eerily quiet city cautiously but there wasn't a soul in sight which I wasn't sure was a good thing or a bad thing. SkyLinx lead the way towards what I knew were where the repair bays were located, when we entered one of the more intensive care repair bays I felt fear clutch at my spark, the room was empty bar Optimus's body on the repair berth. The Quintesson and SkyLinx walked over to Optimus's body while I stood there in the door way holding myself trying to pull myself together, the fear felt like it was trying oppress me so much it felt like I was drowning in it until I felt a familiar presence of someone that I missed dearly. The cool feeling pushed aside the fear and allowed me to think clearly, I knew that if I wanted to survive and help save everyone else I couldn't let my fear and personal feelings get in the way so I pushed them aside regaining confidence in my abilities as also joined the Quintesson and SkyLinx who were examining Optimus's body.

"This is not going to be easy" the Quintesson stated

"just be sure you do it right" SkyLinx responded, the Quintesson then turned to me

"you, I remember you. I shall require your knowledge as well if we want to pull this off" he stated, I only nodded pushing aside the disgust at being ordered around by a Quintesson as I moved the other side of the medical berth as I got to work.

It was a slow and painful process, we had to make sure we did everything right otherwise we would risk further damages; this meant triple checking everything that was done which was pretty daunting when Optimus's internals needed to basically be rebuilt from scratch.

"I've got the main memory vod finished" I stated as I closed up a panel stepping away as the Quintesson turned to SkyLinx

"start power to it" the Quintesson ordered as SkyLinx pressed a button however after a few seconds it exploded making me yelp while the Quintesson was furious

"too much power you metal moron! Do as I say or your leader will never be revived!" the Quintesson threatened, I rolled my eyes getting back to work repairing the next component.

Once again the room was silent as I worked on the arm components while the Quintesson focused on the legs, suddenly Optimus's legs rose up on their own

"jolly good show" SkyLinx commented quite happy that we were finally making some serious progress

"legs are operative now the arms" the Quintesson added, I didn't say anything as I finished rewiring the last few wires before stepping back as the Quintesson also finished with the arm he was working on, the arm he was working on suddenly moved erratically

"watch out!" I quickly warned, the Quintesson dodged however SkyLinx wasn't so lucky and got knocked crossed the room, thankfully he wasn't injured and walked back over after a few minutes

"you did that on purpose" SkyLinx accused the Quintesson which made me giggle as I shook my head, the whole scene would have been comical if the situation wasn't so dire and serious.

"It was an accident" the Quintesson claimed which had my dying of laughter on the inside while I remained completely passive on the outside

Once the arm was resting again, I worked on the finer detailing components making the arm closest to me move on its own as well thankfully it didn't try to knock me out

"that's better" the Quintesson stated, SkyLinx leaned in closer to see what we were doing

"so how much longer?" SkyLinx asked

"we are almost done" I responded not looking up from what I was doing

"indeed and then what are you guys going to do about the disease?" the Quintesson added on, SkyLinx leaned back giving us the much needed work space back

"Optimus will know what to do I hope" SkyLinx answered, I noted the small amount of concern in his answer and I knew what he was feeling. If Optimus didn't even know what to do, then we were all done for.

Finally, I sealed the last energon line as I stepped back and wiped my head knowing I've done all I could, a quick glance at the Quintesson who had just finished closing Optimus's chest plates indicated he was also done; now all we had to do was hook him up to the energiser machine and pray that it would work.

SkyLinx carefully carried Optimus's body over to the massive machine before placing Optimus so he was sitting on the large metal chair, once he was situated I walked over and started to hook the cables up to Optimus trying to ignore the curious look SkyLinx had

"I didn't know you have the knowledge to bring someone back from the dead as well" SkyLinx stated curiously which made me tense up before I forced myself to relax

"it isn't something I wanted to know so I never said anything, and before you ask yes I regret it every day that I kept the information to myself when I could have easily brought back our dead friends. This knowledge I possess is more of a curse then a blessing, I know things no one else bar maybe the Quintessons would ever know. If I could I would have brought back everyone we ever lost but it just isn't possible, If I did that I would be playing god, and when people play god it never ends well. There must always be balance in the universe, for everyone person I could have revived someone else would have most likely died to keep the balance; that is why I kept it a secret and it's a burden I will live with forever now since I am the last living descendant of my people and I wouldn't wish this on anyone else" I explained quietly, not bothering to look up from the wires.

I stepped away from Optimus body which SkyLinx took as an indication I didn't want to say anything else, we both walked over to the Quintesson quietly

"all hooked up" I quietly state before moving to stand behind the Quintesson just in case things were about to go boom

"then we need to hurry this along, this world needs a leader now" SkyLinx stated urgency in his voice as the Quintesson messed with the controls

"one second, we are ready to go. If this doesn't work, then Optimus Prime shall never live again" the Quintesson responded leaving a heavy air of uncertainty over the three of us as he pulled the lever which caused Optimus's body to glow a pearly white.

The silence was overwhelmingly tense as we waited mentally praying that it would work, suddenly the bright light got brighter forcing me to look away before it dimmed enough for me to turn back to see Optimus stand up from the chair; I couldn't believe my eyes, we somehow did the impossible and brought Optimus back from the dead

"we did it! Optimus Prime lives!" the Quintesson excitedly stated and I couldn't help but also feel the same way, after all we singlehandedly did the impossible

"you really did it; our leader is back" SkyLinx responded

"yes SkyLinx, and this time no force in the universe can stop me" Optimus spoke, his voice strong and confident which helped rebuild my confidence in our chances of saving everyone else.

Optimus tore the wires off himself before speaking again

"how long have I been gone?" he asked, I couldn't find my voice still overwhelmed that I somehow helped bring back the dead thankfully SkyLinx had his though

"too long, we are all in grave danger" SkyLinx responded his voice was a lot quieter though which I assumed was because he was also recovering from the fact that our dead leader was now in front of us

"tell me all about that has happened" Optimus ordered,

I felt my legs give out as I sat on the floor while SkyLinx updated Optimus on everything that had happened starting with Jessica Morgan's valiant play to save him from total destruction, the discovery of the Hate Plague spores, and the trap laid out by Jessica's father and her partner Gregory Swofford to infect the Autobots with the spores in revenge, which ultimately spiralled out of control. He then went on to how he heard my distress call and rescued me from Cybertron before we went out and also rescued the Quintesson to help revive him. The last part had me holding back my tears as SkyLinx stated that him finding the Quintesson to bring Optimus back was Rodimus's final orders, I didn't want to believe it but I knew deep in my spark that is was all true.

"Rodimus what happened to him" Optimus asked, this question gave me the strength to finally get back on my feet as I once again pushed aside my person feelings as SkyLinx responded

"Rodimus I am afraid he has also become infected, you are our last hope Optimus" SkyLinx answered, Optimus turned to the Quintesson

"you brought me back to life, a Quintesson?" Optimus asked gently as he pay the Quintesson on the side which I guess was supposed to be a thankyou pat on the shoulder

"I had no choice, the entire galaxy was being threatened. I didn't do it alone though, the girl also helped" the Quintesson responded, this made Optimus look at me

"thank you also for your help, I don't recall who you are though" Optimus stated, I stood more confidently now

"my designation is Sundancer, I was rescued from the Quintessons after you had already gone offline. We did meet briefly before however you were being controlled by the Quintessons so I guess it wouldn't count" I responded, Optimus nodded accepting my answer

"well then I know this is late but welcome to the Autobots" Optimus greeted, his response made me smile

"thank you, sir" I accepted gratefully, Optimus turned back to SkyLinx.

"Are there any other Autobots who have avoided contamination?" Optimus asked

"Not many, and those that have were injured battling Superion. That may be damaged beyond repair" SkyLinx answered, this didn't deter Optimus though

"who? Tell me" he ordered

"Kup, Wheelie, Blurr, Blaster, Steeljaw and Bumblebee" SkyLinx listed, I felt heavy hearing Wheelies name before I became determined I would do whatever it took to bring him back

"Optimus sir, please if we can retrieve them I know I can bring them back online" I requested, Optimus nodded

"alright then let's go out and get them into the repair bay" Optimus acknowledged my request, I turned to the Quintesson

"I am going to need your help as well" I ordered, the Quintesson didn't say anything except for a disgruntled sigh which I took as him agreeing to help.

While Optimus and SkyLinx headed out to retrieve the injured, the Quintesson and I quickly set to work gathering everything we would need including extra medical berths. Just as quickly as they left, Optimus and SkyLinx returned along with the human girl Jessica who was a main cause in the whole mess but I didn't hold it against her since she never wanted any of this to happen in the first place, once the deactivated forms of my friends were placed on the berths, the Quintesson and I split up to get the work done twice as fast; most were easily repaired however when I got to Bumblebee's body I knew there was no way I could repair the damage done to the little guy, the Quintesson had also approached me looking down at the damaged form

"hmm, his body is too damaged to be repaired back to his former self however he would be able to live if we rebuild his body. He won't be bumblebee anymore though" the Quintesson suggested, I stared at how fragile poor Bumblebee looked before nodding

"alright, whatever it takes" I answered quietly as we went to work disassembling Bumblebee's body before replacing everything that was damaged with new parts, it took much longer than any of the others but I made sure we didn't rush a single detail until finally his new body was complete. I took a final look at his face hoping he wouldn't hate what we have done before stepping aside as the Quintesson gave them an electrical jumpstart, slowly they all reactivated sitting up rubbing or stretching their bodies. Optimus had stepped forward to address the newly awakened Autobots, while I moved to stand with SkyLinx who was just behind Optimus fighting the urge to hug Wheelie

"I see you are no worse for wear then I was" Optimus greeted, this jolted them to stand up and approach their dead leader, once the excitement of having Optimus back settled down, I was so glad that Bumblebee actually liked his new shiny form and even took on the new designation of Goldbug, I couldn't hold back anymore and picked up Wheelie hugging him close; he was a little surprised but returned the hug before I set him down

"I am so glad you guys were okay, I was so worried when I tried to comm but there was nothing but static" I stated softly,

"I am guessing that means it spread to Cybertron as well?" Kup asked and I nodded now feeling guilty I couldn't protect Cybertron like I was supposed to

"I'm very sorry Kup, I couldn't do anything. It had already spread to Cybertron without me even realising it" I apologised

"don't worry about it, if it wasn't for your help we probably wouldn't be online right now so you have more than made up for it" Kup reassured which made me feel better

"so what is the plan Optimus?" Goldbug asked bringing the attention back to the main issue at hand

"I don't have no plan" Optimus responded truthfully,

"what!noplannoplanifyoudon'thaveaplanOptimushowarewegoingtofighttheplagueandifwecan'tfighttheplaguewearealldoomeddoomed" Blurr responded

"without the matrix of leadership I no longer possess the wisdom of our ancient leaders but if I can regain the matrix perhaps an answer can be found" Optimus stated

"but the matrix is within Rodimus, if you try to take it you will be infected too" Kup pointed out,

"there must be a safe way to get the matrix" Optimus added, everyone was thinking until the human girl Jessica spoke up.

"I believe I have the answer, the metal my father and I had been working on is immune to heat and radiation" Jessica explained,

"then if I coated myself with that metal it might protect me from infection so I can reclaim the matrix" Optimus planned, however the look on Jessica's face made me think that there was going to be an issue getting our hands on the metal

"yes but the Decepticons raided the lab and stole all the metal we had" Jessica added and there was the issue, however that wasn't going to get everyone down thankfully, instead it only served to increase the confidence in the room

"no problem sister we will just take it back" Kup stated confidently, the others agreed quite ready to go bash some Decticreeps. However, Jessica stepped forward so she was now the main centre of attention

"not so fast you got to take me with you" Jessica added, however Optimus immediately disagreed but Jessica seemed to be prepared as she didn't even miss a beat using the excuse that it couldn't be much more dangerous then rescuing Optimus himself from an exploding sun, I had to hand it to the human girl she knew just the right buttons to push and sure enough Optimus agreed as long as she didn't put herself in harm's way; Optimus then turned to me

"however Sundancer I would request that you stay here with the Quintesson" Optimus ordered, just as I was ready to rebut Optimus continued

"your skills and knowledge are far too important to allow you to become infected, we will need both you and the Quintesson to make this plan succeed. I will leave Wheelie and Steeljaw here as extra backup while we are gone. I am not budging on this" Optimus finished, I clenched my hand before relaxing accepting the orders knowing he was right in the end

"yes sir" I accepted as Optimus ordered everyone else to transform and roll out, leaving the 4 of us behind. Once they were gone the Quintesson turned to us

"well hurry up, we need to make a machine that will melt the metal down so we can coat Optimus" the Quintesson ordered, seeing as there was nothing else to do we got to work creating the machine leaving Steeljaw in charge of monitoring the medical part of the Metroplex.

After what felt like vorns we had put the finishing touches on the machine when Steeljaw informed us that SkyLinx had returned, I was so relieved that they were finally back but it quickly dissipated when only Optimus disembarked SkyLinx with some of the metal. Optimus must have noticed my face because he shook his head

"they fought well, Jessica said there is enough metal here to coat me. Let's get this started so we can work on saving everyone" Optimus ordered so with the help of Wheelie and Steeljaw we unloaded all of the metal putting it on the conveyor belt which ill load it into the sprayer which would metal it down to the point where it can easily be sprayed.

Once Optimus was in position, the Quintesson activated the machine, it was a slow process since we had to make sure every single square inch of Optimus was protected otherwise all this effort and sacrifice would have been for nothing. Finally, Optimus was fully protected, he was now a pearly pure white with no colour to be seen

"that should do it" the Quintesson stated, Optimus stretched a little, I stepped forward drawing Optimus's attention towards me

"sir, I would like to accompany you to find Rodimus" I stated firmly, Optimus shook his head like I figured

"It is too risky, we already lost everyone else to the plague" Optimus responded making me roll my eyes

"look, no disrespect Optimus but SkyLinx is also not protected and he has been fine. The danger for him being infected is as equal as me plus you got no more troops if you need back up" I explained, Optimus looked at me as if I was a puzzle

"there is another reason isn't there why you are pushing so hard on this" Optimus questioned, I blinked wondering how was I so easy to read before knowing it be pointless trying to hide it

"Yes, I know deep down in my spark that Rodimus would never hurt me, it's hard to explain but if anyone has a better chance of talking him down it would be me or at least I would be able to distract him long enough for you to get the jump. I know it is risky but I am willing to take it" I truthfully explained, Optimus looked me over before nodding although I could tell he wasn't happy about it

"very well, you are to stay with SkyLinx at all times, if at any time you are threatened of getting infected you and SkyLinx must escape" Optimus ordered which I agreed too knowing it was better than nothing.

We left Wheelie and Steeljaw in charge of the Quintesson while we left with SkyLinx however it wasn't easy to find a lone transformer when everyone was all the same colour, we did a flyby of the closest city but came up empty handed, Optimus urged SkyLinx to hurry when it hit me

"SkyLinx head to the nearest race track, probably one that would be enclosed" I stated, Optimus nodded approvingly

"of course, the nearest one would be the junkyard" Optimus asked SkyLinx

"righto, setting a course to the junkyard" SkyLinx responded as he made a slight turn heading back towards Autobot city before veering off to the left again, sure enough as we got closer to the large junkyard we spotted Rodimus being shot at by 3 of the Stunticons. I couldn't believe my eyes, Rodimus caused the 3 Stunticons to get buried under a large pile of junk before transforming quite gleeful. SkyLinx lowered himself just out of sight behind a pile of junk so Optimus could get out before we flew back to a safe distance which allowed us to view and hear everything

Optimus came out from behind the junk pile making Rodimus actually look surprised

"Optimus! I thought you were dead!" Rodimus quickly stated, this made me confused after all it was Rodimus who had ordered SkyLinx to get a Quintesson to revive Optimus so perhaps when he became infected

"the preservation of our very existence is at stake, madness had infected the entire galaxy; the Autobots, Decepticons, the humans they threaten to wipe each other out of existence, we have to fight the madness, you have to help me Rodimus" Optimus stated calmly, Rodimus stepped closer looking as if he was struggling internally with himself

"help-help the universe?" he questioned more himself then Optimus

"listen to what I'm saying" Optimus stated gently, that was when I spotted Rodimus pulling out his gun making my spark go cold

"look out Optimus he is crazed!" SkyLinx warned from above, Optimus managed to dodge the two shots Rodimus had taken taking cover behind some more junk

"I don't want to hurt you Rodimus" Optimus called, this didn't seem to affect Rodimus though

"don't worry you won't" Rodimus boasted before transforming and taking off,

"follow him you two!" Optimus ordered so we followed Rodimus albeit a safe distance away and spotted him going into an old auto car shop, SkyLinx updated Optimus before we landed behind the building where he allowed me to disembark before we entered the back way making sure we stayed out of sight though.

We had a pretty good vantage point to see everything happening with a large wall and massive machine protecting us from view

"we are wasting time; many lives are at stake!" Optimus tried to still reason with the crazed Rodimus who was walking around now looking for Optimus. I couldn't stand to see him like this so I ignored SkyLinx's warning to stay back as I crept closer to Rodimus's location; it was risky but I had to try.

"the only one who is in danger is you, old timer!" Rodimus responded gleefully, that was the final straw so I stepped out from behind the machine so I was now in Rodimus's vision. Rodimus for the most part didn't do anything other than stare me down which I returned although I'm pretty sure my face showed my emotions

"Rodimus it's me Sundancer, you know who I am right?" I asked softly holding my hands up to show I was no threat, seeing as that I now had Rodimus's undivided attention I twitched my fingers which I hoped Optimus read that he was clear to move

"Rodimus, please you have to give Optimus the matrix so he can help you, help me and everyone" I pleaded gently relaxing my body almost submissively, I was hoping if he saw that I was no danger he might be less inclined to attack.

Rodimus tilted his head as he started to walk slowly towards me, this made my spark fill with joy at the thought that maybe I did manage to get through to him

"Sundancer...help you-help okay" Rodimus responded his words seemed a little confused, I felt my emotions take over my processor which blocked my rational thinking as Rodimus was almost now in reaching distance of me and held his arm out, I relaxed even more as he was now only 3ft away. I waited to feel his touch when I felt a cold hand grabbed my arm and pull me back just as Rodimus touched where my shoulder would have been; almost as if a spell had been broken I blinked as I realised just what the pit had happened and how close I had let myself get to becoming infected all because I had let my guard down for my emotions to take over.

I stared at the solid white wall that had now separated me and Rodimus feeling relieved that he had been watching while I also cursed at how stupid I just was

"Sundancer get back to SkyLinx now, he is beyond reasoning" Optimus ordered firmly, I knew would be unwise to argue so I nodded before running back to where I knew SkyLinx was hidden. I heard a growl of sorts and turned around to see Rodimus shoot at Optimus a new form of rage seemingly taking over him, Optimus dodged the attack before pressing a button which activated the machinery as a line of claws meant for picking up cars moved with one of them grabbing Rodimus's arm disabling him. Optimus jumped Rodimus however Rodimus managed to kick Optimus away and free himself before climbing some scaffolding reaching the 2nd level of the shop where he pressed a button which revealed an acid pool.

Optimus was right behind him though balancing on a piping of sorts, seeing as they were now at much higher height, SkyLinx this time told me to stay put while he would go assist Optimus

"no more games Rodimus! Innocent lives are at stake!" Optimus stated, Rodimus just turned his weapon on Optimus

"no one is innocent!' Rodimus responded shooting at Optimus causing him to fall off the piping, thankfully SkyLinx caught him much to my relief, however I froze as SkyLinx flew too close to Rodimus who jumped him causing SkyLinx to become infected. I watched as Optimus had to bail while SkyLinx broke through the roof and disappeared into the sky, I winced as Rodimus fell back through the roof landing in a pile of broken glass; it was short lived however as I had to move since Rodimus was too close to my hiding spot while he was searching for Optimus who had transformed and was hiding among the unpainted cars.

I watched tense as Optimus managed to pin Rodimus to the conveyor belt however Rodimus had managed to get a heat laser during the struggle and was trying to cut into Optimus. Somehow Optimus managed to force Rodimus to drop the heat laser as they fell off the end of the conveyor belt. I quickly ran out of my hiding spot over to them to see Optimus one punch Rodimus knocking him out, Optimus didn't waste any time removing the matrix from Rodimus

"is he going to be okay..." I asked quietly partly still terrified of Rodimus for almost infecting me but mostly concern that he was seriously hurt, Optimus turned surprised to see me before nodding

"yes but he won't be out for too long, I didn't realise that your feelings ran so deep for Rodimus" Optimus stated which made me blush a little and look down

"I know, I allowed my emotions to cloud my own judgement. It won't happen again" I promised, this seemed to please Optimus since he didn't reprimand me

"We need to get back to the others now, no doubt in my mind that we have drawn enough attention to ourselves" Optimus commanded before transforming with me following suite.

We made it back to Metroplex in no time flat with thankfully no other encounters with any infected, Wheelie commed me to inform us that they had moved to the security room so we changed directions heading for the opposite part of the city. Once inside the security room Optimus revealed the matrix to everyone, everyone including the Quintesson were stunned since only a handful of people have ever seen the matrix before except me as I had only seen in two times before and neither times had been a good moment to get a really good look at it

"if any cure to this plague exist, only the ancient leaders within the matrix could possibly know it" Optimus states before he inserted the matrix into his chest, after a few moments his form fell forward; apparently Optimus didn't need to dry his circuits in order to go into the matrix it seemed.

We managed to move Optimus's larger form onto the bench so he would be resting easier, just as we had done that however there was a warning beep from the security feed, the Quintesson moved to see what had caused the security to get tripped pulling up the camera feed to reveal a bunch of infected transformers landing and making their way towards us, quickly he activated the exterior defences sealing all the entrances but with how many out there it wouldn't hold long.

"that won't hold them for too long, we gotta keep them out till Optimus returns!" the Quintesson stated, I pulled my trusty laser knife out of my subspace since I had lost my weapon back on Cybertron

"then let's buy him some time" I responded, using my knife I proceed to cut anything heavy lose from whatever it was attached too and start moving the objects to block the door; Wheelie and Steeljaw quickly assisted while the Quintesson monitored the hallways just outside the security room

"they are just outside!" the Quintesson warned just as there were bangs on the door making the small barricade shake a little, we all stepped back taking defensive positions in front of Optimus; there was a good chance we would get infected but it was a sacrifice I knew we were all willing to make to save everybody.

The door was suddenly blown wide open sending instantly decimating the small barricade we had made, I blinked focusing on the 3-4 infected transformers who were now entering, instantly Wheelie and Steeljaw shot 2 of them taking them out quickly while I dodged the 3rd one's attempts to touch me before throwing my knife which lodged itself into I would assume one of the sweeps chests; this caused the infected to also collapse smoking.

We didn't get to celebrate because all too quickly more entered, I barely dodged a grab when I was shoved out of the way by Steeljaw who was grabbed instead of me resulting in him becoming infected, I spotted Wheelie also becoming infected to my left; this left me and the Quintesson who had backed up to hide behind me like a coward. I backed up slowly as the infected transformers halted as Galvatron entered the room holding a large piece of metal piping, he was headed straight over to Optimus. I jumped in the way but he swatted me aside

"stop don't do this Galvatron!" I yelled not caring the fact that I was now surrounded by infected transformers as two hands grabbed me

"never! This world is ours now, Optimus prime shall die again!" Galvatron yelled as he raised the pipe to stab Optimus,

I felt the rage virus invade my systems as I struggled against whoever had grabbed me not wanting to succumb to the madness but of course it was to no avail as the madness crept into my mind urging me to destroy; suddenly there was a bright light emitting from Optimus who had sat up with his chest wide open revealing the matrix which was glowing brightly. Everyone including myself couldn't move as Optimus opened the matrix very similar to how Rodimus did it back inside Unicron however this time instead of a green glow of destruction it was a blue colour which encased us all in an almost gentle embrace.

I felt the madness recede from my mind completely and in its replacement I felt like I was a brand new bot or I just woke up from really good recharge, I noticed that everyone who was infected were now back to normal I also had realised I was still being hold by who I now realised was Cyclonus who immediately let go when Steeljaw had rammed his leg, the light dimmed down until there was nothing left. I eyed the now empty matrix which was nothing but a shell, the beautiful orb had completely disappeared I guess whatever Optimus did drain it completely

It was pretty awkward after that, Galvatron and his troops had quickly left while Optimus lead us back to the lab where this whole thing had started and where everyone else had also meet up. I was surprised to see that Galvatron was standing around but didn't think much of it as I spotted Rodimus or Hot Rod now since he no longer possessed the matrix, I quickly moved to stand by his side giving him a small smile which he returned before we focused in on the 2 human males who had started this whole mess

"I can't say what I'm feeling so I am terribly sorry" Jessica's father apologised

"we had no right to do what we did with the spores, for what we thought, what we believed I deeply apologised" the other male added on, Galvatron moved from his position and walked over to Optimus; this action made me tense

"does this mean the fighting will continue?" Hot Rod asked Kup

"hard to say" was all Kup could reply with as Galvatron stopped a few feet away from Optimus before shaking Optimus's hand

"there will be no war today Optimus Prime, you have earned Galvatron's respect" Galvatron stated, I felt the tension I had leave knowing that at least for today there would be no more fighting. I jumped a little when I felt something grab my hand and looked down to see that Hot Rod had grabbed in and squeezed it gently, I snuck a glance at his face to give him a soft smile while squeezing his hand back; my attention was drawn back to the main situation as Optimus presented the empty matrix to Hot Rod

"the wisdom of the ages, it's lost" Hot Rod stated his voice was in disbelief

"no not lost, we are all a little wiser now" Optimus responded as he passed it to Hot Rod who let go of my hand to carefully cradle the empty shell of the matrix

"but the matrix is empty" Hot Rod responded not quite understanding what Optimus was saying

"it is up to all of us to fill it again with the wisdom we accumulate from this moment on" Optimus answered, Hot Rod handed it back to Optimus carefully

"Autobots transform and roll out!" Optimus commanded, however before I could Hot Rod grabbed my hand again stopping me from transforming waiting for the others to leave before he lead me out of the lab on foot as we walked at a leisurely pace. I was nervous, I didn't know what to expect from Hot Rod, I mean now that he wasn't the leader anymore he would have more free time but that wouldn't mean he would actually want anything more from me; I didn't even know if he liked me in the same way I did. I was snapped out of my mental freak out by Rodimus stopping which made me stop too as I faced him, I started to blush as my spark was thrumming happy that I had his attention. Hot Rod looked like he was struggling with his words so I gave his hand a gentle squeeze

"hey you can tell me anything you know that right?" I stated softly, my words seem to help him regain his confidence because he no longer looked like he was struggling to figure out what to say

"Sundancer, while I was under the hate plague, I heard you. I heard you calling for me to come back. But instead I almost infected you if it wasn't for Optimus I would have done it. So I'm sorry" he apologised, this caught me a little by surprise

"you were not yourself so why are you apologising? I let myself get caught up in my emotions so it isn't all your fault" I responded softly giving him a reassuring smile that I wasn't upset or anything, yet I figured that wasn't everything that Hot Rod wanted to say

"there is something else, since the time I rescued you from the cell on Quintessa. You have been on my mind a lot, but then I became Rodimus with the burden of leadership and yet you still remained by my side. I thought the strange feeling I got was because I wanted to look after you since you lost everything but after you ran off with Ace I realised my feelings ran deeper than that. Then you almost died on Sestra and I thought you wouldn't ever come back and then when I connected to you I knew what it all meant" Hot Rod stated,

I couldn't believe my ears; it was almost too good to be true like a crazy dream but if this was a dream it was one I never wanted to wake up from. Hot Rod squeezed my hand again as I waited for him to continue

"Then when your memories got swiped and you tried to kill me, I couldn't hurt you. I couldn't hurt the one who meant the whole world. The one I love" Hot Rod paused obviously to gauge my reaction to his words, I gasped a little surprised when his other hand gently cupped my face making me look him dead in the eyes which were filled with too many emotions for me to identify

"what I'm really trying to say is that I have fallen for you Sundancer. I know you might not feel the same way but even then I'll still protect you till my dying breath" Hot Rod confessed, with those final words giving me the boost I needed to react I threw my arms around his neck and kissed him, I pulled away as he started to respond but I remained close with my arms around his neck still

"Don't worry I feel the same. When we first met I didn't know why but I felt safe with you, it wasn't until I connected with you on Junkion that I had a better idea of what it all meant. Eventually I fell in love with you but I was afraid that you had so much on your plate that you wouldn't notice" I confessed feeling a little shy now but I regained my confidence when Hot Rod chuckled a little

"of course I noticed" he whispered before he kissed me again, I let out a content sigh as I returned it. We stood there for a few moments just letting our emotions rule our bodies as we enjoyed the kiss, I pulled away smiling happily only to jump a little when a familiar voice made their presence known, I turned to see Kup nodding at Hot Rod in an approving manner

"So you finally did it lad, it was about damn time. You two been dancing around each other for ages" Kup commented, I only groaned and buried my face in Hot Rod's neck who only laughed

"why you here anyways?" Hot Rod questioned, I pulled away shifting myself so I could see Kup properly

"Optimus was concerned when you two didn't catch up, don't worry I will tell him everything is okay. You two should go enjoy yourselves for the day" Kup answered, I stepped away from Hot Rod taking his hand as I did so while I smiled gratefully at Kup

"thankyou" Kup waved my words off

"don't worry about it, least I can do since you helped revive Optimus and the rest of us" Kup responded before transforming and leaving in a dust of smoke leaving us alone again. I turned to Hot Rod a grin making its way on my face as I had a great idea on what we could do, he turned to me looking a little confused at my grin

"what is with the grin?" he asked, this question only made my grin get bigger if that was possible

"oh nothing, just thinking how I could easily beat you in a race" I teased, my words seemed to stun Hot Rod before he nodded accepting the challenge a grin of his own making its way on his face

"I don't think you realize who you are talking to" he responded in a deeper voice which made me extremely excited before he could say anything else I transformed

"321GO!" I quickly yelled before speeding off leaving Hot Rod in the dust, I looked back to see a stunned expression before he transformed heading right after me

I laughed at him trying to catch up, he seemed so much younger and happier now than he ever truly was as Rodimus, but at the same time bearing the burden of the matrix had also taught him a lot of things about himself making him into a much wiser person. I thought of how I even met him which made me think of my homeworld, I truly missed my home, I missed racing Ace through the rebirth forest, I missed the rare bouts of affection I got off Elder, I missed everything about it, but I was happy now I had found a new home and family to call my own.

I had now officially closed that chapter of my life and was starting the next chapter with Hot Rod by my side; I couldn't help but wonder where life was going to take us next. Just as long as there was no Galvatron fish in it, or any transformer turning into fish period.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So that is it, this ending is sucky I know but I just didn't know how to end it nicely, If I think of a smoother ending I'll update it. Anywho this story is done and dusted, I might write a sequel maybe but not for a good few months anyway if I choose to do so. Thanks for reading

**Author's Note:**

> So for any confusion, Amarr had a secondary reason for escaping Cybertron. He accidentally discovered a formula for a specialized form of Energon that could easily power an army for the duration of the war but the downside is that it's incredibly combustible and in a concentrated dose could blow up whole planets. 
> 
> That alongside with his advance research he had done messing with time and space trying to quite essentially turn back time to revive a dead spark, he fled the planet in fear that his knowledge would be used for evil purposes.  
> It is why Amarr's knowledge can cause those not prepared for it to go insane as most of it is taboo and a bot's programming no matter how evil or nice they are would reject it essentially corrupting their own processors.
> 
> Also, the way Elder transferred the formula was through Amarr's bond which connects the current holder to the next successor. However for the transfer to be able to work, the current holder must be physically and mentally connected to the successor.
> 
> I will upload a chapter with some information on Sundancer so you get a better feel for her.


End file.
